Unsealing Legacy
by Forlorn Story Teller
Summary: A small twist of fate made him aware of his heritage, unsealing the legacies his parents left behind. Graduating academy at the age of seven is first step, become seal master is the second. Unexpectedly he had found a kindred spirit in Uchiha Itachi & Shisui tagging along the way. His goal? Living up to his clan's legacy and fighting to earn his rightful place in Konoha.NO PAIRING!
1. 1st Legacy

**This is the kind of story in which, I write what I want which not necessarily a good story like any other I have written before. It's more to my personal pleasure you see, no worrying for 101 guide of good fanfiction. **

**I want to write a cool fuuinjutsu user Naruto, and so I write one. **

**Disclaimer: If I own Naruto, Obito would have die a hero looooooooooooooong ago. **

**Beta-ed by Supreme Dream**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Fourth Hokage's Legacy **

Naruto was well aware he was disliked by a majority of the Konoha population, hated even. However, even though they hated him, he was never harmed. He received no more than an icy glare, insults behind his back, and shunning. His safety was ensured by the ANBU guards the Sandaime ordered to protect him, but it still hurt emotionally. The old man would have prevented his people from hurting the boy's heart if he could, but to enforce a law like that was impossible. Not to mention until now, those who held a grudge against the Kyuubi never tried anything against its container in fear the demon itself would run amok.

The people of Konoha weren't crazy, but even the Hokage couldn't keep an eye on every shinobi. And even if he could, there was always that _one_ individual that would spell trouble over Konoha's jinchuuriki. Danzo was a prime example. Nevertheless, Sarutobi Hiruzen counted his blessings. He didn't yet need his ANBU to get rid of those stupid enough to harm Naruto.

However, that night changed everything.

* * *

Hiragi Youma was a survivor of the third Shinobi war; one of the first fuuinjutsu users in Iwa. He retired from his profession shortly after the war ended, because he wasn't just a regular seal master who worked in the village, researching and producing seals for a living was not for him. He was a front line seal master who worked as backup on the battlefield. His forte was fast execution of a seal rather than the complexity of it, allowing him to support his comrades. However, no one was fast enough to deal with Konoha's Yellow Flash.

He was thoroughly humiliated when Namikaze Minato slaughtered the Iwa force before he could even pick a brush. The only reason he survived the encounter was because he was hiding under his comrade's corpse, suppressing his chakra. He would never forget the eyes that appeared to glow a brilliant shade of Delphinium when they gazed in his direction. His breath had hitched, and he'd wondered if the sense of inevitable death was a shared feeling among his comrades in face of the swift and deadly Yellow Flash.

But Youma did not hold a grudge against Namikaze Minato like the rest of his village; he found it to be pointless since people on both sides were dying. Instead, he chose to admire him as a seal master. The man was a genius, and Youma was envious. He was talented in sealing having spent his whole life mastering it, but he would never come close to Namikaze's level.

The saying,_ 'Talent hits a target no one else can hit, while genius hits a target that no one else can see', _couldn't be truer.

Namikaze Minato set his own unreachable target, creating seals no one previously thought to be possible. Youma retired knowing it was time to give up chasing Namikaze. The gap between them was too large to be closed and chasing the dream was pointless. However, in his fifth year of retirement, news spread like wild fire that Namikaze Minato died when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Rumors started floating – most were nonsense – but one caught his interest. Namikaze Minato had given up his life using a seal against Kyuubi, and there was a possibility Konoha created another jinchuuriki. It was obvious to say Youma was curious. A high level seal master wouldn't die sealing a bijuu so long as it was performed right. Namikaze dying from a mistake was a farfetched idea considering many masters before him had succeeded. That meant only one thing. Namikaze Minato had used a special kind of seal that 'required' such a sacrifice.

Konoha was probably the only village that would never flaunt their jinchuuriki. In fact, all that anyone knew was that Konoha possessed the Kyuubi, and that there were two jinchuuriki before the most recent one. The first fact was common knowledge. The second fact could be known if one calculated a person's life span.

His curiosity about the last seal Namikaze Minato ever created grew, and he decided to pay Konoha a visit.

He had to find Konoha's third jinchuuriki…

…the Yondaime Hokage's legacy.

* * *

It was no easy feat sneaking into Konoha, especially with the barrier created by the Uzumaki clan protecting the village. He would've had to devote a lot time and research into exploiting a weak spot, but fortunately, he found someone willing to trade information. In exchange for a safe route, all he had to do was hand over his life's work to Konoha's most dangerous missing-nin, Orochimaru. It was almost an unfair exchange, but seeing the last work of Namikaze himself was worth it.

Once he was able to sneak in, it was a piece of cake. Hiragi Youma might be a top seal master of Iwa, but he never made a name for himself (considering Namikaze Minato and Jiraiya of the Sannin were hogging all the fame). He didn't even bother with a henge; dressing like a civilian was enough to do the trick. Finding info about their jinchuuriki was surprisingly easy, and all it took was sitting in front of a dango shop. When six-year-old blond boy with blue eyes walked passed, civilians and shinobi alike gave him a wide berth while breaking into a hushed whisper. Youma easily overheard one of the customers in the dango shop mutter 'monster' under his breath.

**Bingo!**

Youma didn't cheer mentally for long, because he soon realized this hated child couldn't be walking around without supervision. ANBU had to be near to keep an eye on the child. It was the standard protocol for all non-adult jinchuuriki, and this child was no exception. If his experience of watching over Han was anything to go by, then this child was shunned by his own village out of fear. How stupid. What if the child snapped and went berserk? Iwa had learned the hard way with Han. If not for Roushi and Onoki subduing the young jinchuuriki, Iwa would have done the equivalent of suicide and embarrassingly wiped themselves off the map. Now, though, Iwa learned to deal with their jinchuuriki by letting them get away from the village, or in other words, voluntary exile.

But forget about his village and their jinchuuriki for now. He had to think of how to get to the child without ANBU noticing. He was a simple tokubetsu jounin, so taking on Konoha's ANBU was definitely suicide. He had to be extremely careful when following the child and his guards, since it was easy to alert them accidentally. He observed them from afar for days and found ANBU didn't follow the child 24/7. Surprisingly, because they couldn't. Once in a while, the child would prank the villagers for attention or to deal out some form of payback. When the boy would flee or hide, the ANBU had a hard time following him even with his bright hair color and vibrant, orange shirt. The boy could be stealthy when he wanted to be it seemed. Of course, ANBU didn't lose him for long, maybe a few minutes or so, but that was plenty enough time for Youma.

On his sixth day in Konoha, he planted a number of seals in the main marketplace and waited for the show to begin. He was not disappointed when the jinchuuriki executed his latest prank: a pink colored smoke spreading throughout the marketplace. It was harmless, but the rose smell was strong enough to make even women flee to escape the sickening sweet smell. Youma himself almost hurled but refrained, because today's prank would serve his cause well. Once again, ANBU lost their charge, and this time it was longer than usual because of the smoke and smell. In the same time, Youma activated his seal which caused the other side of the marketplace to 'explode'. It was harmless in that it was mostly smoke and sound. It was designed to be a distraction with minor damage and no casualties, so they would be more inclined to believe it was the jinchuuriki's prank.

ANBU, of course, thought it was their charge or a possible enemy ninja, but for a moment, Youma feared that the ANBU would linger. He grinned as they rushed away, allowing him to duck into the small alleyway he saw the boy run in earlier. Youma couldn't believe his luck when he saw the jinchuuriki still there, hopping up to reach the rooftop of a building nearby.

The jinchuuriki was obviously curious about the explosion. "Wonder what happened over there? Enemy ninja?" His eyes widened when he felt pain on the back of his head, and then everything went black.

Youma sighed in relief as he hoisted the jinchuuriki on his back. He then applied a genjutsu over the child so he looked like a little, brunette girl with fair skin. He quickly retreated back to the crowded street a bit further away from the market where the civilians were busy fussing over the jinchuuriki's latest prank. Youma stiffened and turned away when he saw a woman with a son glance at him curiously. His eyes briefly caught the red and white fan symbol stitched into their clothes and flinched.

UCHIHA! SHIT!

"Anoo..."

The seal master turned around slowly, faking a kind fatherly smile. "Ah, good afternoon, Uchiha-san," he greeted the Uchiha woman genially. "What a fine day isn't it?"

Uchiha Mikoto raised an eyebrow. It had been a while since anyone greeted an Uchiha so politely like this man did. She had called out to him simply because she sensed something off about him – or was it the child? Now that she thought about it, it was probably her just being paranoid. "Good afternoon to you, too. The breeze is indeed very nice today. Is that why your daughter fell asleep?" she asked with a smile on her lips.

The man nodded stiffly. "Yes, she also exhausted herself playing in the playground today…" He added, mentally cursing himself for engaging in a conversation with an Uchiha. It was truly fortunate he hadn't used a henge at all on himself. If he had, she would be even more suspicious.

"I see..." she said softly. "Then I will be on my way..." She muttered as she turned to walk away, but Sasuke stopped her with a frown.

"Kaa-san."

Mikoto tugged on Sasuke's hand, gently dragging him with her. "Not now, Sasuke. If there's anything you want to buy it'll have to wait," she said as the father-daughter pair walked away from them.

"But, Kaa-san!" Sasuke whined. "That man lied."

"Sasuke," the Uchiha matriarch warned. "Don't accuse someone you just met, especially a civilian at that." They were in a bad enough position in the village as it was, and it would be bad if rumors of Sasuke accusing civilians as liars spread. "Besides... why would he lie to me?" she asked logically.

Sasuke frowned, then muttered, "yes, Kaa-san." Obediently, he followed his mother back to the Uchiha compound. Sasuke recalled the only playground in Konoha was not currently usable. When he and Itachi had walked around the park yesterday, there was a 'Repair in Progress' sign near the playground. Itachi was shaking his head when he said someone named Gai accidentally ran into it or something along that line. So that man lied to his mother about his daughter exhausting herself playing, but Kaa-san was right. The man had no reason to lie… or did he? Kaa-san wouldn't listen, so he'd have to tell his brother later.

* * *

Naruto blinked his eyes open and looked at his surroundings. He was in a large room with lots of boxes and bottles—a sake warehouse? He crinkled his nose at the scent. He hated the smell of sake as it reminded him of the drunks that said unpleasant things to him. Naruto startled when he set his eyes on a stranger smiling at him with a genuine smile. "Uhm..." The man had long, brown hair and green eyes, and his build was similar to the ANBU he had seen before with a dog mask.

"Hello, kid, are you alright?" Youma asked. Now that he had a close look at the child, Youma could see the similarity between him and Namikaze. Iwa would freak if they knew the Yondaime Hokage had managed to procreate and turn the boy into a jinchuuriki.

"Who are you? I am Uzumaki Naruto!" The Hokage had told him that it was common courtesy to give his own name before asking for someone else's.

Uzumaki? He raised an eyebrow at the name. Youma pointed at his chest and said, "Me? My name is Hiragi, so just call me Hiragi-san." His family name was pretty common so telling the child was harmless.

"Hiragi-san," Naruto tested the name. "I think I will call you Oji-chan instead."

Youma sighed. He deserved it since he was the same age as the Yondaime. "Fine."

Naruto eyed Youma curiously. "Uhm, why am I here?" he asked.

He grinned at that and said, "Oh, you were knocked out by a bad person. I saved you and brought you here." If his observation was correct, this child had never been attacked before and incredibly lonely. If someone saved him, they could easily earn his trust. "You're safe here, Naruto-kun." And for added bonus, he ruffled the child's soft, spiky hair. This was the moment of truth. If a shunned Jinchuuriki was touched, they would either lash out or welcome the affection as a sign of trust.

As expected the child looked at him admiringly. "Thank you, Oji-chan!"

Youma smirked inwardly. That had been easier than he'd thought it would be. "You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Then he added after a beat, "But it seems the enemy ninja did something to you," he lied smoothly.

"EH?!"

"I can fix it for you though," Youma assured the child. "Don't worry and just leave everything to me." Naruto paled at the thought of an enemy ninja having done something horrible to him. "Now..." Youma rummaged through his back pack and pulled out a storage scroll. He unsealed a wooden board the size of an adult with a seal array carved into it.

Naruto watched the unsealing in awe. "That's so cool, Hiragi-ojichan! What is that? Ninjutsu?"

Hiragi smirked. Not quite his father's child, huh? "This is fuuinjutsu. It's one of the most complex shinobi arts... see this array here?" He tapped the board on the ground. "You use hand seals to mold chakra for ninjutsu, while in fuuinjutsu we use these to tell chakra what to do."

"Is it hard?" Naruto's eyes were shining with glee.

"Depends on you." He didn't see anything wrong with indulging the child. He needed Naruto's full cooperation anyway. "You have to be good in arithmetic, chakra theory, and calligraphy basically..."

Naruto crinkled his nose. "I don't like any of that. Can that even be used like cool ninjutsu?"

Hiragi snorted, "The Yondaime Hokage was a magnificent seal master."

The next thing Hiragi knew, Naruto had latched his small body onto his arm like a koala. "Teach me." He gave the seal master his puppy eyes. "Please~"

Hiragi faltered. He had discovered another scary way to use Namikaze's azure eyes. "Uhm... I will fix you first then we can talk about this again, okay, kid?"

"Okay!" Naruto agreed as he hopped off of Hiragi, bouncing on his feet.

The seal master sweat-dropped at the sight of the hyper kid and silently thank God that he was no longer an Iwa shinobi. Namikaze surely knew how to pick a wife; the rumor of his lover being the Habanero was true it seemed. The two monsters of Konoha procreated… this kid would be one hell of a shinobi. Then again, it was none of his business. He only wanted the data of Namikaze's last work, and then he was going to get out of Konoha faster than you could say Ninja.

"Now lay down here, Naruto-kun, and take off your shirt."

Naruto obeyed the instruction, but shuddered when his skin touched the cold wood. "Now what, Hiragi-ojichan?" He asked.

Hiragi smiled. "Just relax, you're going to fall asleep and when I finish you will be as good as new!"

"Okay!" Naruto cheered.

Hiragi formed seals for a sleep inducing genjutsu, and Naruto quickly fell asleep. "Finally," he sighed in relief. "Pretending to be a kind uncle is exhausting!" He grumbled under his breath, "Now... let me see the last work of Namikaze Minato." He activated the seal array on the board causing a seal to appear on Naruto's stomach.

He gaped at the sight. "Unbelievable... no wonder he died to make this." The seal was different than any other seal he'd seen before. There was not just one seal, there was three layers of seals. At first glance, it would look like only one seal, but a top notch seal master would know there were two other seals. The first seal was the main seal that tied the jinchuuriki and his bijuu together. The second and third however would be triggered in certain circumstances. Hiragi would bet they were failsafe seals and, considering the main seal and the bijuu it held, it made Hiragi wonder what kind of seal those were.

No one ever made a failsafe seal for a jinchuuriki. Then again, villages that had jinchuuriki didn't have Namikaze Minato. Hiragi couldn't suppress his growing curiosity and envy of the last work of the Yondaime. He badly wanted to unravel the seal, but that would have required him to be on the same level as Namikaze Minato or risk his life.

He cackled at the thought. "If I died here it would be justified. I was supposed to die when he slaughtered my team anyway... It would be an honor to die for my research!" He wondered if this was his sanity wavering again – one of the many reasons for his retirement. Then again, why would he care for the consequences? The worse thing that could happen would be unleashing the Kyuubi in Konoha, and that would only be giving Konoha what it deserved. Naruto would never have been so vulnerable and easily swayed if they hadn't shunned him. It was probably charity to the brat to let him have his own revenge.

With that in mind, Hiragi continued his work, but first sealed everything he cherished inside a special storage scroll. It was more durable than the average storage scroll in that it could withstand explosive tags and other harming elements. Nothing weaker than a bijuu-dama could destroy it he supposed as he began to work.

Kyuubi perked up, growling when he saw the Yondaime walk up to his cage. "What do you want, Yondaime?"

"Someone is trying to tamper with the seal," the blond Hokage muttered. "I don't know why, but it activated the failsafe temporarily."

Kushina then appeared beside him. "It activated mine too..." she growled. "Who's the fool?! If I get my hands on the guy I'll kill him!"

Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "You're dead, Kushina," he pointed out with a deadpanned tone.

The second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi glared at her ex-prisoner. "Thank you for reminding me," she growled, "but what happened to my son?!" He was her main concern.

Minato paled when he saw Kyuubi's chakra leak from his cage. "Kyuubi! YOU—!"

The bijuu bared his fangs. "Not my doing, Yondaime! In case your memory is as bad as your mate's, your seal is designed so the brat can borrow my chakra!" the fox pointed out. "I did not will even a small fraction of it to leak into his system, so if it kills the brat and me too, you have no one to blame but yourself!"

Minato grit his teeth. "You really..." his eyes widened. "Kushina! Your chakra!"

Kushina looked at herself. "My chakra, it seeped into Naruto's!"

"Mine too... what's happening?! Is the failsafe seal broken?!" He quickly went to check the seal on the Kyuubi's cell. "This one is safe, at least... for now..."

Kushina breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, I checked the failsafe chakra too and it doesn't seem like it's going to break but... "

"But?" Minato asked, dreading her next words. "But what?"

"Some of our chakra and memories has seeped through because of this... I don't know how it will affect our son." Kushina clasped her fingers together. "Naruto..."

Kyuubi snorted, "It's been boring here save for his occasional prank anyway. As long as it's not life threatening who cares?"

"WE CARE!"

The fox laughed at that, but frowned when he saw the Yondaime and his wife disappear from the sewer. It seemed the seal had stabilized again. He wondered what had happened to them just now, though he didn't truly care. He just didn't want the couple to be able to annoy him all the time.

* * *

Hiragi left the warehouse in a daze, terrified of what he'd almost done. He at first thought he could be careless even if he was killed when he examined the seal, but the chakra excess Naruto emitted almost made him insane with the killing intent. Kyuubi's chakra was malicious. It didn't matter how hardened you were as a shinobi, it would make you quiver in fear. It was just so intense and full of hatred, it terrorized your senses until you wanted nothing but for it to stop.

It was a mistake.

A mistake!

He puked the contents of his stomach and then toddled like a newborn calf. He leaned against a tree, his eyes glazed as his whole body trembled. A squad of ANBU landed in front of him, ordering him to come with them without resistance and so on. Heh, the same standard procedure in every village. Too bad for them, he had no intentions of going with them, knowing he would be interrogated. He had made a mistake that left his mind in shambles, and the only salvation was what any seal master would do. While it had to do with the offspring of the genius bastard he'd been jealous of for so long, at least he was certain his life's work wouldn't be lost in vain.

_Back in the warehouse, Naruto woke up with a yawn and looked around to find the nice ojii-chan was nowhere to be seen. He was about ready to cry at being left alone once again, but his teary eyes caught sight of an expensive looking scroll right beside him. His eyes widened when he saw the note attached to it. _

_'**Naruto-kun, I have to leave for an important mission and will likely never come back. As promised, here is a scroll to teach you everything I know about fuuinjutsu. Use this scroll to follow in your father's footsteps and become a great seal master. I am sorry I left without telling you.  
Good bye.**_

_Naruto smiled. Hiragi-jiichan didn't break his promise!_

He rubbed the inner side of his left thigh and applied the necessary amount of pressure. It was a failsafe he had never bothered to remove; a sheet of poison his superior had planted in his leg for suicide. As pain racked his body, Hiragi Youma smiled at the ANBU who gasped at his pained expression.

_Namikaze, you better thank me _for_ what I have given to your son. I may have tampered with the seal with my half-assed skill, but what I gave him…_

_See you again in the next life, genius. _

* * *

**Hopefully the next chapter is longer. I usually fail spectacularly writing Naruto fic. BTW my analysis of how Naruto treated is canon, no one tortured him or anything physical like in some fic. I won't say it's stupid to make it that setting while in canon he is just treated coldly and ignored, who cares what canon say? **

**THIS IS AN AU anyway... **


	2. 2nd Legacy

**2nd Legacy: Prisoner of Hatred  
**

**"****H****umans are fickle being, they could hate as strong as they love...  
greedier than demon and seek pleasure from slaughtering for power..."  
**Kurama, The nine tailed fox

Naruto ran back to his home with the scroll Hiragi-jiichan gave him safely tucked in his backpack. He was grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of learning cool fuuinjutsu and becoming a seal master like the Yondaime and Hiragi-jiichan. He frowned at the sight of an ANBU squad stationed in front of his home and stopped before jogging to them. "Hello, good evening~ whatcha doing here?"

The ANBU with a bird looking mask crossed his arms. "Where were you, Naruto-kun?" Tori asked worriedly. They had gotten the corpse of the man suspected for kidnapping Naruto, but further investigation indicated the man was alone. They had combed through the enitre village before being ordered to wait for the child in front of his home, while another squad was assigned to continue their search.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Eh, shouldn't you know where I am? Like all the time?" he pointed out, innocently unaware he had scored a jab on the ANBU squad losing him _again_.

"Naruto-kun," Tori warned, flushing under his mask, "we're going to see Hokage-sama." And then after a beat he added, "And you're grounded. Three days of no pranking and no ramen."

Naruto flinched at that, "Eh, sorry, Tori... I'll just put my backpack in my room first, okay?"

A bear masked ANBU stretched his hand out to Naruto, and the boy quietly gave the backpack to him. Kuma sighed as he jumped to Naruto's balcony and put the backpack there. No one would steal it anyway.

Naruto opened his mouth to protest leaving his backpack there, but Tori hoisted him up onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before he could. "You're in trouble, Naruto-kun," Tori stated in a stern tone as they took their first leap to the Hokage tower.

"But Toriiiiiiiiiiiiii," Naruto whined. Tori was the only ANBU of the squad who talked to him. It was not like the rest of the squad was not allowed to speak, but Tori was the spokesman of the squad. But throughout his childhood Naruto could discern from their body language what they wanted to convey. If they crossed their arms with a lifted chin or tapped their limbs that meant he was in trouble and was going to get grounded. If their shoulders shook slightly that meant he had done something that amused them.

"No buts."

* * *

Naruto had read the rest of the note Hiragi left, including the part that asked him to keep the scroll a secret. Hiragi meant for the scroll to be for Naruto alone, not Konoha. If they knew about the scroll it would be taken away from him, and while the child was warned of that prospect, he was torn between telling Hokage-jiichan and lying to him. The Hokage had always been kind to him and had even assigned an ANBU squad to protect him. Naruto owed the Sandaime a lot and the least he could do was be honest with him.

But...

Sandaime-jiichan never told him anything about his parents, and whenever Naruto asked, he swiftly dodged the question. The only thing Naruto knew was that they had passed away as heroes, but how they were heroes was never explained. He also never told him why he was shunned by everyone either.

"I fell asleep in the forest." Technically it was true. He had been sleeping, but it was in a sake warehouse on the outskirts of Konoha. "The weather was nice and when I woke up was it late," he mumbled. Since Sandaime didn't trust him with a number of things, Naruto thought it was only fair he kept some secrets, too.

The Sandaime, of course, was well aware that Naruto was lying, but what good would it do to force the truth out of Naruto? The child had a stubborn streak a mile wide that he'd inherited from his parents. "I see… You may go."

That night changed everything.

On the way back home, he was once again carried by Tori. Naruto's eyes were glazed as a number of scenes played out in his mind.

**_"The main character is just like you, sensei."_**

**_"Naruto… it's a beautiful name..."_**

**_"Realize what's the most important thing to your brother…"_**

**_"I hope our sons will be good friends!"_**

**_"... neither shinobi nor jinchuuriki"_**

"Naruto?" Tori called out. He chuckled when he saw the boy was sleeping on his back. "Fell asleep I see..."

Kuma snorted. "He ran us dry today..."

* * *

Deep within Naruto, Kyuubi scrunched his nose. It seemed what the Yondaime and his wife feared had come true. The memories and chakra had leaked into Naruto's system. Never mind Kyuubi's problem though. The bijuu was well aware there were small amounts of his chakra leaking into Naruto to build the boy's resistance to it. Kyuubi had been pretty much resigned about it since the moment he was sealed into Naruto.

**Clink Clank Clink... **

He'd had two women as his jinchuuriki, so a brat couldn't be any worse of an option in his book. He had contemplated driving Naruto insane, but his pride wouldn't allow him to sink to the same level as Shukaku. Seriously, that tanuki brought a bad name to bijuu, always throwing his name around in his drunken stupors. Had he no shame or pride to keep the honorable name their father bestowed upon them?

**Clink Clank Clink... **

Speaking of pride, he wondered how his fellow bijuu were faring with their jinchuuriki. When Kushina was still alive he had heard about Matatabi and Gyuki. It seemed Gyuki had been a good friend with his jinchuuriki or something like that. Ha! The second strongest bijuu had submit himself to a life of servitude for shinobi!

**Clink Clank Clink...**

**"SHUT UP!"** Kyuubi roared to no one in particular.** "Kushina! Stop playing with your chain or I will..."** He paused, contemplating what he could do to threaten his ex-jailor – someone who was an avatar that existed by chakra and the memory of her son. Nothing came up. Wait a minute, the avatar should be back to a dormant state by now, so where was the rattling sound coming from? On second thought, he couldn't care less. He just wanted it to stop!

**The next morning...**

"I can't sleep, it's so noisy... what a dream... full of a rattling chain..." Naruto mumbled, blissfully unaware that his tenant wholeheartedly agreed with him. "I didn't even check on the scroll Hiragi-jiichan left me." He blinked at the thought and went to his window. He opened it and shouted to a tree on the left. "Tori, can you tell Hokage-jiichan I won't go to the academy today?"

Tori almost fell comically from his tree. Then again, it was just a daily portion of bruised pride when regarding Uzumaki Naruto. The boy could easily spot them and identify them by name. Naruto couldn't see them, but he could sense them. Sometimes he wondered if Naruto was a sensor type, but according to the Hokage, it was in the Uzumaki blood to have a sharp intuition.

The ANBU sighed. "Naruto-kun." He was about to chide the blond boy but stopped when he saw the tired look on Naruto's face. "What's wrong? Didn't get enough sleep?"

"I can't sleep," he answered.

"Nightmare?"

Naruto shook his head. "It was a noisy dream. The sound of a rattling chain echoing in a sewer..."

"...I will send a message to Hokage-sama," Tori said. "Go back to sleep, Naruto-kun."

"My head is throbbing, Tori..."

The ANBU frowned. "...We'll go see a doctor then."

Naruto was too tired to protest that he disliked hospitals. "'Kay."

* * *

Sanada Anzu was the only medic Sandaime trusted to handle Naruto with care. She had been, after all, a dear friend of Kushina's. She had black hair that held a green sheen to it and steel colored eyes. Anzu was dressed in the standard outfit for female medics of Konoha. She was one of the few medic nin lucky enough to be taught by Tsunade of the Sannin. She was not an apprentice of Tsunade, but back in the third Shinobi war, she had been part of a medic class Tsunade had taught. In spite of her vast array of knowledge, she was nowhere near Tsunade's level, but she was good enough to be head doctor of the hospital. Unfortunately, her health was not the best and she would retire within the next two years. She had been reckless when she was younger and had been poisoned by a Suna nin on one of her missions. While immediate death was avoided by neutralizing the poison, Anzu had discovered not all of the poison from back then had been removed from her system. Now it was gnawing on her liver and heart and, within the next two years, would reach her nervous system and paralyze her. Anzu doubted Tsunade-sama herself could heal her, but she was content with continuing to serve Konoha. Her only worries were about Kushina's son.

The boy was a frequent patient, though thankfully not because of the hate of the villagers. If she retired, would her replacement treat the boy like she did? The boy rarely got sick, but when he did it was just a mild flu or fever. He also received minor injuries from his prank escapades. Anzu recalled Kushina was the same way back then. At first, after she'd found out about Kushina's status, she was confused about why Kushina needed medical treatment from time to time. Apparently, her tenant wouldn't heal minor injuries, because it was beneath it to give so many favors. She recalled Kushina didn't have the best relationship with her tenant, and she had to wonder if _it_ would treat Naruto the same way too.

"So, Naruto-kun... had trouble sleeping?" Anzu eyed her patient keenly, then briefly glanced at the bird masked ANBU. The boy looked like he was sleeping soundly, but it was obvious he was troubled. "All this time I thought he was the type who could sleep through an ox stampede." His mother could when she was off-duty.

Tori nodded. "He said, 'It was a noisy dream. The sound of a rattling chain echoing in a sewer…'" he quoted.

Anzu raised an eyebrow. "Chain?" That oddly reminded her of Kushina. "Hm... I don't want to give him sleep medicine." She had learned from Kushina it wasn't effective anyway. "I guess we can only observe him and make sure he is fine. There's nothing we can do for now."

Anzu had no idea how correct she was.

* * *

Naruto awoke to the sound of feral screaming and wet feet. He wondered how he got there as the last thing he remembered was napping on Tori's back on the way to the hospital. Since when did the hospital look like a sewer? It wasn't hygienic, right? He thought out loud, almost falling down when the feral voice screamed louder, thundering throughout the sewer. **"If you know it's unhygienic don't turn your mind into a sewer, BRAT!" **

"My mind?" he echoed as he ran to the source of the voice. "Who's there?" It didn't take long for him to find a giant cage and a pair of red eyes glowing in the deep darkness within.

Kyuubi moved closer to the bars with bared fangs. **"I see that my jailor has decided to grace me with his presence..." **He would have tried to intimidate the boy with his claws, but decided against it because distressing the brat risked the seal reacting in the undesirable way it did last night.

"Jailor?" Naruto repeated. "Who? Me?"

**"Yes, YOU!"** The Kyuubi growled, and after a beat added under his breath,** "to my everlasting shame."** He was pretty grumpy because of the noise from before and because of the fact it sounded eerily like Kushina's chain.

Naruto looked at the giant shadow with red eyes with childish curiosity. "You're big."

**"Very observant,"** he said sardonically.

Naruto beamed at that. "Thanks!" Rubbing the back of his head with that sheepish smile eerily reminded the Kyuubi of Kushina's habit when she was embarrassed.

**"You're not even old enough to recognize sarcasm." **Kyuubi rolled his eyes. **"I bet you don't even know what sarcasm is." **

"Oh! Can you teach me then?" Naruto asked innocently. The giant shadow with red eyes was nice! For someone like Naruto who had been ignored by a majority of Konoha's population, having someone talk civilly to him was enough to consider said person as a potential friend. The ANBU were nice, but they only interacted with him if it was necessary. "What's sarcasm? Is it something good?"

Kyuubi sighed. This was why he preferred his jinchuuriki to be at least capable of comprehending he was a dangerous being."**Heh... what a child… whatever, go away brat. I need my beauty sleep." **

"Oh... you're a girl? I thought your voice was a bit... low like man! Sorry!" he chirped.

Kyuubi's left eye twitched angrily. **"I am no woman, brat. Now GO AWAY and never come back!" **

A spell of silence hung in the air until it was broken by a choked sob. "Hic..."

If anything, his eye twitching didn't subside even as the brat in front of him burst into waterworks. **"Why are you crying, brat?" **

Naruto hiccupped. "You told me to go away... hic hic." Just like the parents of the children he tried to play with. "You don't want me here... hic hic. You want to get away from me..." he sobbed.

Kyuubi sighed. **"I wish I could." **He had zero intentions of consoling the brat. Who cared if he cried? It was something new at least. Mito and Kushina never let themselves show any weakness in front of him. Then again, the brat was an innocent child. Unfortunately, he had nursed his hatred for too many years to care for the brat's woes. He was as unwilling as Naruto was with this arrangement of jailor and prisoner. In fact, more so considering he had dealt with confinement for many more years. Speaking of the brat, why had he become so quiet now?

"You can't? Why?" Naruto had stopped crying and was looking at the bijuu with wide, curious eyes.

There was something in those eyes, and Kyuubi's mind went into auto-pilot like all living creatures did when faced with puppy dog eyes. The eyes demanded to be given into to. **"I was sealed in you, so like it or not I am going to be here for your whole life."** Mentally, Kyuubi hit himself for giving in.

"You..." Naruto stammered in disbelief. "Will be..." he took a deep breath, "with me forever?"

**"To my everlasting shame,"** Kyuubi admitted with a growl. **"I am inside your mindscape, so yeah... you live, I live unless you screw up." **The last part was muttered under his breath.

Naruto's big, blue eyes widened as he took in what Kyuubi said. He didn't understand why Kyuubi was stuck with him, but what he did understand was that someone would always be with him! He would never be alone again! So what he should do now was get the big shadow to like him! "Anoo saa! Will you be my friend?" he asked with the most pleading voice he could muster.

Kyuubi's eyes widened in disbelief. The brat asked what?! Friend?! Had he been dropped on his head or something?! **"Do you know who I am?"** he asked back.

"No!" Naruto chirped.

What in Rokudou Sennin's name was the brat thinking? Wanting to be his friend was crazy enough, but asking someone he didn't even know to be his friend was even more bizarre. Then again, Kyuubi's previous jinchuuriki never suffered isolation like Naruto did, because their status was a well-kept secret from civilians and lower ranked ninjas. While Kushina had suffered a bit because of racism in the beginning, it hadn't lasted long because she'd begun dating Namikaze Minato and people had forgotten her foreign status in the mist of war. In Naruto's case however, he didn't even have a clue about why he was hated and ignored to the point of being desperate for attention.

The gears in his mind started working. The prospect of having a too naive jinchuuriki affected their survival rate negatively. The previous night's incident was a testament to how dangerously naive Naruto was because of his longing. **"Brat, do you know what happened on October 10th six years ago?" **For survival's sake, the brat could cry himself hoarse, but he wasn't going get both of them killed because he craved attention.

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Uhm... the Yondaime Hokage defeated the Kyuubi no Youko and heroically saved Konoha." Everyone in Konoha knew about it; it was common knowledge.

Kyuubi groaned as he moved forward, revealing his body to the child. As expected the child froze. **"And yet here I am... That was the bullshit your old Hokage fed to you younglings. I am an immortal being. Not even the Yondaime could kill me..." **The strongest bijuu hissed, revealing his sharp teeth.

Naruto looked up at the demon, stricken by fear at the sight of the nine tailed fox. He was gargantuan. The tale about his gigantic body was not an exaggeration. "You're... the Kyuubi? You're sealed… in me? Is that why... grownups hate me?"

**"Hoo... you're not as stupid as I thought." **It seemed the brat was not a lost cause. **"They think you're my reincarnation or something along that line... Fools! All of them! They fear a helpless child like you, how foolish!" **Naruto stared at Kyuubi. Did the fox just give a sound reason about why he was hated? Did he just call the villagers stupid… for hating him? For mistaking him as its reincarnation?! Logic told him to fear the Kyuubi, but his heart was elated that someone else felt he didn't deserve their hatred. **"Humans are fickle beings, they can hate as strong as they love... are greedier than a demon and seek pleasure from slaughtering for power..." **

"Is that why you attacked Konoha?" Naruto blurted out the first question that came to his mind without even realizing it. "Because humans are horrible?" he added. "Were we... punished by Kami-sama?"

Kyuubi couldn't believe his ears. Why didn't the child break out into a hysterical fit and blame all his misery on him?! Why did he ask about the reason he attacked Konoha?! **"Brat, I hate Konoha." **A pure and simple reason for attacking the village.

"Why?" Naruto asked again.

**"Why you ask?" **Kyuubi returned the question with another. **"I hate Konoha, that's all there is to it." **

Naruto shook his head fervently. "All this time, I never knew why they hated me, and it hurt... so bad..." he mumbled as tears streamed down his cheeks. "I didn't know what I did to deserve it. To them, I am '_that child' _or_ 'bakemono'. _They never cared about who I am... and yet they hate me so much." He looked up to his prisoner, azure eyes locked onto Kyuubi's red. "When you told me why they hate me... I was so angry, scared, and... relieved."

The bijuu stared at the child with disbelief evident in his feral face. **"Relieved?" **Kyuubi repeated incredulously. **"You're relieved because now you know why they hate you?!" **

Naruto nodded. "It still hurts," he admitted with a pained grin, "but at least I know it's not my fault... Now, I know I don't deserve that hatred. That's why... I want to know why you hate Konoha and humans so much, please... tell me."

**"..."** Kyuubi couldn't believe he was considering responding. All his life he had been controlled and seen as a lesser being with the base nature of wrath. Uchiha Madara had viewed him as a tool to control with his so-called blessed eyes. Senju Hashirama called him a creature too terrible to be free, and Uzumaki Mito and Kushina bound him to them to keep the world safe from him. He was a mass of chakra and hatred they feared, and yet humans were ignorant of what caused that hatred to grow within him. They feared his hatred and yet they nursed said hatred by imprisoning and using him.

All of them – even the shinobi who claimed to be the strongest among their kind – were guilty of this. And yet, this one child was the only one who had bothered to ask. A child of six years old, young even by human standards.

**"Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobe, Songoku,  
Kokuo, Saiken, Choumei, Gyuuki, and Kurama... one day...  
Someday... will...  
true power" **

Kyuubi gritted his teeth, recalling the memory about the human who saw them as his children – the only man whose death he had shed tears for. This child bored many similarities to his father, so maybe this child was different than the other worthless humans. **"Your village has been imprisoning me for years, binding me to their will..." **he began. **"The Shodai Hokage captured and sealed me to keep me at bay... passing me on from generation to generation. Then six years ago I was freed from the seal..."**

"That's why you attacked Konoha when I was born?" Naruto asked, his eyes still wide and glassy with tears. "So many people died back then..."

Kyuubi snorted. **"If I'd had a choice, I would have left and never come back instead of risking my freedom to wreak havoc!" **the bijuu roared angrily, causing Naruto to be blown away into the watery surface. **"Revenge is one thing, freedom is quite another! But someone controlled me and made me attack your pathetic village! And guess what?! I AM SEALED AGAIN WITHIN YOU!" **

"... So, the attack is not your fault?" Naruto asked.

**"HELL NO! See where it landed me?!" **Kyuubi asked incredulously**. "I am no fool! And I..." **His eyes narrowed at his jinchuuriki. The boy's shoulders were shaking. **"Brat... you..."**

"Ha ha hA HA HA HA!"

**"What are you laughing at?!" **Kyuubi roared irately.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear. "No, it's just... both of us are stuck to each other unwillingly... and neither of us are to blame! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha!"

Naruto kept laughing to the point Kyuubi thought his jinchuuriki had gone mad. That only lasted for a short moment before a stream of tears soaked the child's cheek. **"Brat, are you crying, laughing, or both?" **They didn't seem like tears of happiness.

"It's just... it never ends," Naruto muttered sadly. "I should hate the villagers since they made my life miserable, but… since they hate me because of you I should hate you instead. But you're stuck with me because... it's someone else's fault..." Naruto shook his head. "It just goes on... should I hate the Yondaime now for sealing you in me? No. He had to save Konoha, but then should I hate Konoha? And now... it's back to square one..." His lips quivered. "I thought I would be happy to know why I am hated by everyone, because then I could change their minds or even hate them back... but in the end, I can do neither... and it still _hurts_ so much..."

Kyuubi eyed Naruto skeptically, looking for a sign of dishonesty. He found none. The boy was being honest. Then again, his family was never one to lie either. As much as he hated Mito and Kushina, he respected their sincerity. Other humans could betray and lie as easily as breathing, but not Mito and Kushina, and neither could this child it seemed. **"I see... so what would you do, child?"**

And as expected, the boy was unaware Kyuubi called him child instead of brat. "I don't know." Kyuubi sighed, it was never this complicated with his previous jinchuuriki. "Will you be my friend?"

The fox stared at Naruto then sighed. "...** I thought I would get used to your antics, but I'm not," **Kyuubi admitted. Not even the boy's mother could be so persistent – or even think of being his friend. Then again, Kushina was told by Mito that he was a mass of chakra full of hatred, while Naruto had no one to teach him that. **"Why would you want to be a friend of a bijuu? One who has terrorized your village and made you a pariah?"**

Naruto grinned his first true smile since he found out about his jinchuuriki status. "Tori once said, 'birds of the same wings gather together'."

**"I think you mean birds of a feather flock together..."**Kyuubi corrected, rolling his eyes.

The boy blinked at that. "Yeah! And you see... since we're stuck together... I thought..."

**"No."**

"Why not?"

**"Just because."**

Naruto harrumphed. "I guess this is what they call the courting process!" He had seen a jounin attempt to befriend a pretty lady, and after said jounin failed, another jounin came and advised his friend to take it easy and slow the courting process.

Kyuubi eyed his jinchuuriki skeptically, wondering why he had to deal with this instead of Kushina and Minato. **"Courting is to get yourself a mate, child." **

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Nice to meet you!" Naruto started, coincidentally ignoring Kyuubi's correction. "What's your name?" He had seen a girl his age using the same introduction to be another girl's friend. They backed away when he tried the same thing though.

Kyuubi groaned. **"You know who I am." **

Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Is Kyuubi your _real_ name?"

Kyuubi groaned again. He would disrespect his old man who gave him the name if he dared to say yes to that question. **"It's 'what' I am. Nine tails is not my _real_ name." **After a beat he added, **"And I'm not going to tell you either." **

"But if it's _what_ you are, I don't want to call you Kyuubi anymore!" Naruto refused with a scowl. "That's like the villagers calling me 'that boy' or 'monster'. They don't care _who_ I am!"

Kyuubi sighed again. This was getting ridiculous. The brat was getting under his skin and he'd only known him for half an hour. It was record time. **"Fine... I am Kurama, and I..." **He shook his head. He was not going to rant about how he was the king of Mount Kurama, his tails, or his beauty like a certain ape brother of his.

"So your name is Kurama!" Naruto beamed, and Kyuubi was startled to see the boy was elated from learning his name. "Ne ne... my name means maelstrom you know?"

Kurama snorted. The boy was a keen learner, observing how to make friends. What made the brat think it could work on a bijuu? **"Actually, you're named after another kind of 'Naruto' that was randomly thought of when eating ramen," **he muttered under his breath recalling Kushina and Minato's conversation with the Toad Hermit.

"Did you say something?" Naruto tilted his head to side, ears perked up at Kyuubi.

**"No."**

"Oh okay... so what's your name mean?" Naruto urged on, grinning from ear to ear.

Kurama growled. **"Enough is enough! Don't keep pestering me! You should be honored I even bothered to tell you my name. I am not going to be your friend and that's it."**

Naruto looked like he was about to protest but held his tongue. He shook his head. "I'm sorry for being annoying Kurama... I'm just so used to acting that way so people will pay attention to me..." The fox flinched involuntarily. That was a sore spot. "But I'm not giving up about being your friend, because then... we can both stop hurting from this hatred... "

**"..."**

"I guess I'll go now, but I will come back again, Kurama." He grinned. "See you later," the jinchuuriki said as he turned around and started to walk away.

**"Oi Naruto."**

"Eh?"

**"You can try." **Kyuubi considered that as a challenge and wanted to see if the brat would rise to the occasion in spite of all the odds.

Naruto spun around, staring at the bijuu in shock. That was not a 'yes' to be his friend, but it definitely wasn't outright rejection. That meant one day, Kurama would accept him as a friend. That was more of a chance than any of the villagers had given him, and here the bijuu they feared so much had given him a shred of hope. "Thank you, Kurama..." Naruto muttered in gratitude. Then after a beat he added, "By the way... uhm, do you know how I get out?"

Kurama's left eye twitched violently. **"This isn't going to be the last time I deal with your idiocy, is it?" **Damn Minato and Kushina. Why did he have to deal with this? **"Oi, Naruto. For our survival's sake, stop trusting so easily." **Unexpectedly, the boy nodded, his expression looking resigned as he accepted the truth reluctantly. **"Also, keep this encounter a secret. As kind as your Hokage appears, he has to put his pathetic village above everything else... including you... "**

Naruto nodded again. "I won't blame him for that either."

He snorted at that. **"Whatever, but bear in mind that your life is not your own... and maybe one day you can prove yourself to be the one _we _have been waiting for... for so long... "**

"Eh... Kura... what do you...?" And everything went white.

* * *

Naruto woke up and found the Sandaime hovering above him with a worried expression. "Hokage-jiichan?"

Sandaime smiled at the child, caressing his yellow locks. "How are you feeling, Naruto?"

The child stiffened for a moment, then his lips curved into a smile. "I am fine, jiji!" He grinned from ear to ear. "As good as new after some good sleep."

The Hokage instantly knew Naruto was hiding something, but he didn't know what, and it wasn't wise to pressure the child. It must be depression because the villagers treated him badly again. "I'm glad to hear that... it's almost dinner time and Sanada-sensei assured me you deserve a good meal instead of hospital food." Sanada knew how much her late friend and her son loved ramen.

"Ichiraku RAMEN!" Naruto cheered.

That night, another secret was made. In the back of his mind, Naruto wondered if the secrets would keep piling up or if he'd ever tell anything to Sandaime again. But if the Hokage and the whole village could keep secrets from him, why not the other way around? He should at least have that much.

* * *

**Please review! **

**I hope I manage to write a make sense conversation between Naruto and Kyuubi, Naruto was much more mature than canon but I think deep down Naruto always is. Kurama is not going to be right away a friend, now he was in a level of reluctant acquittance I guess... at least at this point they have come to an understanding that both are unwilling to be on their position, and as Kushina said, neither of them have any sort of luck as jinchuuriki and imprisoned bijuu. **

**Naruto also learned everyone lied to him, and started to think 'it's justified' to keep secret especially if it helps him to survive like Kurama said.  
**

**As for the rattling chain sound, it have meaning but not going to be revealed for now. **

**BTW before anyone suggested any pairing, there would be no one paired with Naruto because that have always the sorest topic in Naruto fandom. Romance is not even a topic in this story so forget it. I don't mind side pairing that's already confirmed as canon like AsumaXKurenai, MinatoXKushina and so on though.**

**update: dunno what overcome me to forget the most important date in naruto universe...**


	3. 3rd Legacy

**Due to some reason Itachi was ten at this point of time while he suppose to be 5 years older than Naruto and Sasuke. He was still a freshly promoted chunin so he is not an ANBU yet. If possible I want Itachi to spend at least one year longer in Konoha, which is not going to affect original plot too much though.  
**

**08-04-13 Update: Beta-ed  
**

* * *

**3rd Legacy: Origin of Legacy **

******_"Uchiha is always the source of trouble and you're one trouble magnet, Naruto!  
To my eternal shame… it's like you and Uchiha are a match made in heaven!"  
_**Kurama, Kyuubi no Kitsune.

* * *

Fuuinjutsu was an obscure shinobi art most shinobi did not study extensively due to the research needed to master it. It was also notorious as being one of the most dangerous branches of the shinobi arts to learn. You would think an art that didn't involve physical training – but a brush, ink and paper – was not dangerous. However, it was proved throughout the years as the most accident-prone art. Those who died learning Fuuinjutsu didn't die in the battlefield but in their own workshop. Even a small glob of ink in the wrong place could trigger a dangerous outcome. It's understandable why the Uzumaki clan was one of the few clans specialized in it; they had both the brain and vitality to survive and master the art.

The art was said to have an endless amount possibilities, which was not a stretch of the imagination considering they could contain the most powerful creatures that ever graced mother earth. However, unlike the three main Shinobi arts, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu, fuuinjutsu was not an art you could master by forming hand seals and training your ass off. If you survived learning the art by copying what's been done before, you were nothing more than a copier and never a master. Seals were like a machine in the form of ink; thus to create a seal, practitioners had to understand each part and the correlation between them.

Mathematics, chakra theory, and calligraphy were the three basic skills one should achieve first before even thinking about picking up a brush and making their first stroke.

You have to master calligraphy not with flourish but with precision, not with a graceful stroke but a swift one. If a practitioner was a frontline seal master, one stroke could decide life and death.

Chakra was the energy that powered every seal, thus every shinobi who learned fuuinjutsu had to understand the nature of the energy. How it would move, mold, change and so on when flowing through a seal, and how chakra with a certain nature could have different results when channeled, like explode.

Mathematics was an abstract study of topics encompassing quantity, structure, space, and change. This subject was essential to the array of each component of the seal down to its very location. One had to practice step by step to reach a logical conclusion. Mathematical structures were used as models of seal mechanisms. A seal master should use mathematical reasoning to provide insight or predictions about the nature of the seal they were working on.

* * *

Naruto wandered to the academy library, marveling at how it became such a magical place the moment he thirsted for knowledge. He picked a few books of his desired subjects and a few extras, and began to read it one by one. The book was meant for children, which was obvious by how thin it was and how it only just covered basic material, but it still had a lot of information to memorize. Naruto had no delusions he could jam everything in his brain, so he resorted to taking notes to learn it thoroughly later, because he knew he was unwelcomed by the librarian.

At this blatant display of hatred, Naruto wondered when the chuunin librarian was going to snap and throw him out of the library. Not anytime soon, hopefully, because he had no legitimate excuse to do so. So Naruto ignored the stare of the fuming librarian, determined to take notes from at least two books of each subject. He stopped taking notes once he reached his target goal for the day and began to read the extra book about Ninja rank. As he skimmed through the genin section and reached the chuunin section, Naruto couldn't help but frown. There were two ways to be promoted to chuunin: the exam and in field promotion. Both routes required a chuunin to have at least a meager skill in leadership and tactics. He rolled his eyes to the fuming chunin and then back to the book. How could that guy be promoted when he wasn't even being discreet with his glare?

Then again, it was none of his business, Naruto thought as he stood up gathering the books to put them back onto shelves neatly. In the corner of his eyes he saw the chuunin stand up, looking torn between scolding and ignoring him. No doubt the chuunin thought he was trying to pull a prank or was going to damage the academy's precious books. Naruto swiftly left the library with a stack of notes in his backpack allowing the chuunin to check the library thoroughly for any signs of a prank. Which, of course, was just a figment of his imagination and paranoia.

Idiots, Naruto thought. If chuunin were supposed to be as good as the guidebook said, they shouldn't worry about a six-year-old pulling a prank right under their noses.

* * *

_For two months, chuunins in charge of the academy library were terrorized not by his pranks but by his mere presence in their humble abode, _Naruto narrated sarcastically in his mind as he began his routine of visiting the library after his class finished.

Two months ago he didn't even understand what sarcasm was, but that was nothing a dictionary couldn't fix. He had asked Tori to help him buy one, because he needed it to understand some big words in the fuuinjutsu manuals. He would have bought it himself if he didn't have to deal with the barely suppressed hostility of the shopkeepers, but had a bad history with bookshops after one of their staff insulted him, and he pranked them as revenge.

He had visited Kurama quite often, but not intentionally at first. It just so happened when he slept, he found himself in the same sewer with the bijuu. He had tried anything he could think of to get in contact with Kurama on his own will, much to Kurama's ire, but his attempts had been in vain. It took one month for Naruto to discover how to connect with the bijuu through meditation, and it had been difficult. It got easier to do with time, and now he could even stay conscious when speaking to Kurama directly from his mind, although, Kurama ignored him most of the time he did. Naruto guessed that was because Kurama was someone who preferred to speak face to face.

Kurama was still not the most sociable bijuu, though Naruto was glad the fox could tolerate his presence at least. While he was not hospitable, Kurama was not against engaging in conversation with Naruto, and that was more than what a majority of people in Konoha had deigned to do. Much to Naruto's delight, Kurama was a fountain of knowledge, and he dared to say the bijuu was even more knowledgeable than the Sandaime. Kurama was an ancient creature after all, born from the hands of Rokudo Sennin himself.

The bijuu had also told him about the Uzumaki clan, and Naruto was very happy to know that his clan specialized in fuuinjutsu. He was saddened Uzu was no more, though. When Naruto asked how Kurama knew about the Uzumaki clan, Kurama had snorted and said, "The Sage of Sixth Path's wife was an Uzumaki." Originally, the Uzumaki clan descended from the Onmyouji line, and they became the first practitioners of fuuinjutsu after the Shinobi era began. This was why Uzumaki was said to be a distant relative of the Senju clan and the Uchihas, though it wasn't acknowledged by the sharingan wielders for some unknown reason.

With all the knowledge Kurama possessed, Naruto had to wonder why his predecessors avoided talking with the bijuu casually. "They don't know what they missed out on!" Naruto said cheerfully when Kurama told him none of his predecessors had ever bothered to listen to him, much less his story.

Naruto was very happy when Kurama didn't refuse to tell the story about the Sage of Six Paths, indulging the jinchuuriki's thirst for knowledge. Then again, after years of confinement with two jinchuuriki who tuned him out, Kurama could appreciate a good listener in Naruto. He was also a much better teacher in history to Naruto than the chuunin in the academy.

Kurama would have raised an eyebrow if he had one. **"My conversation with them was never civil." **In fact, he could count how many times he talked with Mito and Kushina on one paw. They never wanted to speak to him and all he had said to them were taunts in his rage. **"I hated them and they kept me at bay, the feeling was mutual..." **

Naruto's eyes softened at that. "I guess that means I'm special then!" He grinned from ear to ear.

Kurama rolled his eyes. **"Yes, you're the dumbest, too."**

Naruto guessed that was Kurama's trademark of mixed compliments and sarcasm. "Now, Kurama... we're trying to fix that, okay?"

**"I suppose," **Kurama grunted. **"Now, where was I last night?" **

"You met Kinkaku and Ginkaku and they challenged you!" Naruto informed the bijuu.

Kurama grunted again, **"Ah yes, those two annoying worms..."**

From his short time knowing the fox, Kurama breathed out sarcasm as naturally as Naruto walk on his two feet. Unlike what Naruto read about Kyuubi in Konoha's history book and other sources, Kyuubi was not a mindless, evil entity bent on destroying the world. But he was definitely not a personification of goodness. Kurama was an intelligent bijuu and had a scathing, sadistic personality. However, he also had a sense of fairness and sarcastic honor. The scathing and sadistic part was a bit unnerving; especially when Kurama explained what he would like to do to Madara and the Shodai for dragging him to their family feud. Thankfully, Kurama had spared him from the too gory details.

However, it seemed Kurama hated Madara at least three times more than he did the Shodaime, and considering what history said about the man, Naruto had to admit that hatred was well placed. Imagine how Kurama had felt when he took a nap in his favorite dwelling only to wake up to Madara insulting and disrespecting him. The man had ranted about how Kurama's fate was as a slave for Madara's 'blessed eyes', and then had dragged him into a fight with the Shodaime Hokage to settle a family feud. In which said feud landed Kurama in his current position.

It was the reason Kurama told Naruto to be cautious of the Uchiha, while silently lamenting about how far the fruit fell from the tree. How the stupid son of his old man procreated a clan of stuck up jerks Kurama didn't know. As far as Kurama was concerned, the descendants of the Old man's stupid son were all a source of trouble.

Naruto had also asked if Kurama knew about his parents, but the fox swiftly answered that he wouldn't tell Naruto anything he did he know. Kurama explained that it wasn't that he couldn't but that he shouldn't. In his opinion, people around Naruto would tell him when the time was right. It was neither Kurama's right nor duty to tell Naruto, especially since he didn't know why information about his parentage was kept secret. Kurama however implied it was a political reason, and as a bijuu he wouldn't get involved in it. Naruto never pried about it after that.

**"And then I spat them out... I regret not chewing them..." **The bijuu lamented, feeling a bit ill as he recalled the brothers had eaten his gut to survive.

Naruto nodded sagely. "Tori always tells me to chew my food before I swallow."

**"Naruto, they didn't give me indigestion,"** Kurama grumbled, and Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. **"Fine! They did, but that's not why I regret not chewing them! Next time I'll just have to make sure my food is dead before I swallow it." **

"I'm sure you will…" Naruto said patronizingly.

* * *

Naruto started skipping his Taijutsu lessons, not because he wanted to but because he was forced to. Like any other subject at the academy, the instructor always attempted to sabotage him, but in Taijutsu it was not as subtle. They taught him the wrong way to stretch, even though his older classmates did it a different way. When he questioned them about it, they always said it was the correct way for a child his age.

What a load of bullshit, he thought.

Sparring was the worst because they always pitted him against the strongest students, and then his older classmates were given the impression that it was okay to beat him up in a spar. They were bullies and a spar was a legitimate excuse to beat someone—him—up.

His grades, though, became better because he started paying attention and taking notes. He was no genius in class, but he wasn't the dead last either. They could sabotage his learning all they wanted to now, because he didn't buy their teaching anymore. Which was why they had started to sabotage his taijutsu training three times harder. He was, at first, clueless about the scheming behind his back, but ever since he found out about his jinchuuriki status, he did not wish to indulge them as a punching bag. Let them call him a coward or lazy to their heart's content; he could now use his time for more productive purposes.

Kurama had no intentions of pampering his jinchuuriki by training him, not that the bijuu could anyway considering the difference in their natures, but much to Naruto's delight, Kurama still remembered what they taught in academy to Kushina. Apparently, the bijuu had an almost photographic memory.

Since Kurama was well… Kurama, all he said was, **"Back then, they trained kids to increase their stamina and develop flexibility before teaching any taijutsu kata. That's it, go figure out the rest yourself." **

That was all Naruto needed to know, because he then went to the library and took notes about increasing stamina and flexibility. He wished he could have brought the book home, but the librarian was already so high-strung by his mere presence in library, and Naruto had no intentions of testing what the chunin would do if he dared to approach the counter to check it out.

Tori was exasperated by his decision to keep skipping taijutsu classes, but nothing he said could convince Naruto. The ANBU squad had witnessed what was happening, and they had to agree that class was too counter-productive to endure for attendance's sake. Naruto asked them to keep it a secret from Sandaime with the excuse of not wanting to trouble the Hokage because he looked so busy lately. They couldn't refute that since Sandaime was in a lot of political pressure lately. If Naruto could be so considerate for their Hokage, who were they to not do the same?

Unfortunately, shinobi couldn't teach academy students without legal permission, but they could always give Naruto pointers and prevent him from accidentally injuring himself. Naruto was thankful for that, especially since Kurama had made it clear he didn't want to heal sprains caused by a mistake in stretching.

Naruto hoped this would be the end of his problem in the academy.

* * *

**One week later **

"And so, that concludes the battle between the Shodai Hokage and Uchiha Madara that created the vast crater that is now known as The Valley of The End." Naruto was reciting what Kurama had said about the petty family feud he'd been dragged into, omitting some gory parts and the insults. Naruto looked up from his essay, and was greeted by the dumbstruck face of his teacher and the rest of the class.

The chuunin was so pale it looked like he was going to faint. Naruto groaned inwardly. It seemed he had just flunked history class. Why did he always feel like he was walking on a tightrope in school? The chuunin was probably thinking Naruto could never write a detailed essay like that, because he hadn't lived through it. He had been so careful trying to write the essay with information that could be taken from the available history books, though he had borrowed Kurama's narrative style since the fox was such a good storyteller.

Then again, the thought of Kyuubi writing an essay about Shodaime and Madara was absurd. Why the chuunin could ever believe that for a moment was beyond him. Kurama was right, there were too many idiots in this village.

Sooner or later he would have to fake his mark in every subject… what was the point of going to school at this rate?! Naruto walked out of the school with a heavy heart, and went to the forest near the Uchiha compound. His mood brightened at the sight of a gigantic oak tree, his favorite place. Kurama had told him in a disgusted tone that the tree was a historical living monument, grown by the Shodaime as a sign of friendship for the Uchiha clan. If one looked closely at the peak of its trunk, a faint carving of the Uchiha and Senju crest could be seen.

He liked to sleep on its thick branch, under its lush leaves. The atmosphere was soothing and it always calmed his mind. It was his favorite past time to relax and reread his notes there. Naruto climbed the tree swiftly, using chakra so his limbs would stick to the surface. Naruto was still trying to improve his tree walking, but slow progress was better than nothing.

"Haah…" he heaved the sigh as he pushed himself up to his favorite branch. "School sucks," he grumbled under his breath as he pulled his notes from his backpack. He leaned against the trunk using his backpack as a replacement pillow.

The jinchuuriki opened his fuuinjustsu notebook, which was the thickest one he had compiled. He had found some samples of standard seals and was in the process of breaking it down into specific components so he could study its mechanics. It was easy to take a sample of the tags from a shop when the owner was serving another customer, and since it was drawn with normal ink and not chakra ink, it wouldn't explode.

Naruto was pondering over the sample flash tag when a voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Good afternoon."

He flailed his arms out, almost losing his balance, and accidentally knocked his backpack over. He quickly grabbed it, but the contents poured over the newcomer that greeted him. Naruto watched in abject horror as his history essay homework fell right above the newcomer's head. While it was just a pile of papers, the height the pile was dropped at was enough to do damage to someone's skull.

The newcomer caught the book in midair calmly and without even looking, and Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief. He then gasped when he saw it was raining papers. He had accidentally knocked over the stack of notes he put beside him! Naruto would have come down in a heartbeat to retrieve his notes, but when the stranger bent over to pick up the papers, he revealed the Uchiha symbol on his back causing him to freeze up.

An Uchiha?!

Soon after he found out about Kyuubi, Naruto had started to pick up things he hadn't notice before. The village, or at least the Shinobi population and a minority of the civilians ostracized the Uchiha clan. It was not the outright staring or shunning they did to him, but he could tell they eyed the Uchiha clan cautiously. It was as though they thought the clan would kill them in their sleep, and it was easy to guess why; after all it was a well-known fact bijuu could only be controlled by an Uchiha, a Mokuton user, or a jinchuuriki. Which also explained why the clan avoided him like plague. In fact, he rarely saw an Uchiha walk on the same street as him.

And yet this Uchiha had approached and talked to him… was this guy crazy? No good, no good… he chanted in his mind as he sweated profusely. Why had he asked Tori and his team to leave him alone for a while? He had even promised them he wouldn't get into trouble. Then again, he had thought no one would find him here, yet this guy had walked right up to him. It took all his will power to not just bolt and get the hell away.

Naruto had nothing against the Uchiha clan personally, but Kurama's rant about how they were the harbingers of doom who wasted his old man's good gene was not helping. Kurama was also very certain that not being alert around the doujutsu bearing clan would kill him in the end. It was enough to put Naruto on edge whenever he spotted an Uchiha nearby.

Naruto was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the Uchiha was reading his history essay. The jinchuuriki blinked when he heard the sound of papers ruffling and saw that Uchiha was reading his homework. "A-ah!" he pointed at the dark haired Uchiha, "Oi! Don't read someone else's stuff without permission!"

The Uchiha looked up from his reading to eye Naruto curiously. Naruto stared right back at the Uchiha. He was older than Naruto, but still a young Uchiha with onyx eyes, black hair with bangs that framed his face, and a low-tied ponytail. There was also a distinct line under each of his eyes that made him looked slightly older than his age.

"My apologies," the Uchiha said. "I'm interested in history, especially about our village, and your essay is a very interesting read." Naruto raised an eyebrow, and after a beat the Uchiha added, "It's enlightening."

Naruto stared at the Uchiha in disbelief, and mentally asked his tenant, _'Kurama, is this guy for real? What should I do?' _

**_'You're asking me?! How should I know? My routine when I see an Uchiha is maim, kill, or eat,' _**Kurama griped.

Naruto sighed. _'Advice for a human, please.'_

Kurama groaned.**_ 'How could you run into an Uchiha here anyway?' _**

Naruto rolled his eyes inwardly. _'This forest is near their compound, although it's in another area opposite of this place.'_

**_'True, but still… how likely is it that an Uchiha stumbles upon you in such a big forest?' _**Kurama wondered with a sigh. **_'Uchiha are always the source of trouble and you're one trouble magnet, Naruto. To my eternal shame… it's like you and the Uchihas are a match made in heaven!'_**

_'Is this REALLY the time to be sarcastic Kurama?!' _Naruto asked internally, gritting his teeth. Naruto smiled sheepishly at the Uchiha. "Excuse me, but could you give me my essay and notes back?" The Uchiha nodded curtly and Naruto almost sighed in relief, but held his breath when the Uchiha started walking up the tree. "Waaa! Wait! Wait!" He had thought the older boy was going to just leave his stuff on the ground and go away, not come closer.

The Uchiha ignored his plea and jumped onto the branch Naruto occupied. He crouched down and then put the essay and notes in front of Naruto in a neat stack. "Here." Naruto rubbed his throbbing cranium and then looked around the surrounding area, sniffing the air. The Uchiha's lips curved up at him. "There's no one around for at least a three mile radius, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."

Naruto took his notes and essay back hesitantly, eyes never leaving the Uchiha as he put his stuff back into his backpack. "Do I know you?" he asked.

"Ah, my apologies." Again with the apologies, what a weird Uchiha, Naruto thought. "My name is Uchiha Itachi."

Great! The prodigy of the Uchiha clan himself and no one in a three mile radius! Wonderful! He ignored Kurama's praise about Naruto becoming a master in the art of sarcasm. Naruto was too busy wondering if the Uchiha was planning to kill him. "You know who I am right?"

"I believe I just called you by your full name, Naruto-kun," Itachi informed the jinchuuriki.

Naruto's left eye twitched, and he wondered if Itachi was being sarcastic or just pointing out facts. "Right…" he drawled, and then decided to bite the bullet. "Why're you talking to me, Uchiha-san?"

Itachi eyed Naruto keenly, and Naruto averted his eyes. "Do I need a reason?" he asked back.

"Uchiha-san," Naruto called. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I have seen members of your clan turn on their heels whenever I was in their vicinity." He might as well tell the prodigy he was well aware of the Uchiha clan's behavior around him. "I thought you were going to do the same."

The heir of the Uchiha clan smiled at that. "… You're more perceptive than the rumors state," Itachi said after a beat, "or my clan is not as subtle as I thought."

"A mix of both actually." Why he indulged the Uchiha by continuing on with the conversation was beyond him, but it was unlikely he would get away anytime soon. "Sometimes, even ninja won't be subtle when they don't know they're being watched."

"Hn…"

"I still remember you haven't answered my question about why you didn't avoid me like the rest of your clan," Naruto informed Itachi in an annoyed tone, "and I would like an answer soon."

Itachi looked amused by Naruto's words. "Exception proves the rule… "

Naruto groaned. "Okay… seriously, what do you want, Uchiha-san?" Kurama was getting restless in his cage, screaming at his jinchuuriki to get the hell away from the bastard Uchiha. "Can I leave now?"

"Why would you want to leave?" Itachi questioned back.

This was getting nowhere; the prodigy was leading him on. "Your lack of answer makes me nervous." Screw subtlety; mind games weren't his forte.

Itachi's lips curved up into a small smile, which caught Naruto off guard. "Would you believe me if I said I'm interested in your essay?" he asked genially, much to Naruto's shock.

Naruto blinked owlishly. "My essay? What's so interesting about it?" he asked warily. "You're an active ninja, and that essay is written by an academy student."

Itachi sniffed. "It's still better than what I read in standard history books. It's very detailed, too…"

Naruto was torn between feeling flattered someone thought his writing was good, and horrified Itachi might think he was the Kyuubi. "Eh… thank you, so…" he trailed off as he fished his essay from his backpack. "You want it?" he offered as he handed the essay over. In the back of his mind Kurama was rolling in his cage, laughing that Naruto thought Itachi would leave him alone if he gave the older boy his essay.

Itachi blinked owlishly at the offer. "Can I?"

Naruto nodded, "It's already graded and I have another copy at home," he replied sincerely as Itachi accepted the neatly folded paper.

Itachi gave him a curt nod, his eyes scanning the paper curiously. "Thank you," he said as he looked up only to find Naruto had disappeared. All that was left was paper floating in front of his face. He raised an eyebrow when he read the title of it. "Mathematic application in fuuinjutsu?" Itachi looked to the side and found Naruto was running like his life depended on it.

Naruto was jumping through the branches and thick foliage, hoping the Uchiha was not going to… "Wait, Naruto-kun!"

Oh shit! Naruto's mind went haywire, and Kurama jokingly chanting 'run for your life' in the back of his mind was not helping either. Naruto moved faster, caution thrown to the wind as branches broke under his feet from the increased speed. Itachi had to take a different route than the one Naruto used because the younger destroyed it.

"You left something!" Itachi shouted. He could go faster and simply catch the younger boy, but it was obvious Naruto was terrified of him for some reason and doing so would risk him harming Naruto accidentally.

Naruto's left eye twitched violently when he heard what Itachi said. Who was going to buy that?! As soon as he reached the border of the forest he shouted, "TORI!"

The ANBU was almost knocked off of his feet, because the moment he appeared with shushin Naruto tackled him. "Oof!"

"Tori! Save me!" Okay, not the smartest thing he had ever said, but he was too terrified to think otherwise.

Tori raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha heir who shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay… Itachi-kun, what's going on here?" Itachi was a fresh chuunin that had been considered for a place on his squad, so he knew who the prodigy was.

"I just wanted to return this to him, that's all," the Uchiha heir replied honestly, pulling out a sheet of paper with neat handwriting to show the ANBU.

Tori sighed and looked at the trembling child in his arms. "I feel this is a long story Hokage-sama would like to hear."

* * *

The Sandaime rubbed his throbbing cranium as his eyes rested briefly on Itachi, who looked as stoic as ever, then to the ANBU squad he had assigned to guard Naruto, and lastly to Naruto who was hiding behind Tori's legs, clinging onto the ANBU's pants as though his life depended on it. It had been a while since Naruto had been reduced to that state. The last time was when the boy was four and had believed the orphanage matron when she'd said there was a monster under his bed.

"So… it's all a misunderstanding?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked as he quirked an eyebrow at the Uchiha scion.

"Yes, Hokage-same." Then he turned to the still hidden Naruto and showed the boy the paper he found. "And I believe this is yours, Naruto-kun."

Naruto eyed the paper longingly, then looked at Tori and the Sandaime. "Uh…"

Sandaime sighed. "Itachi-kun, can you tell me the more detailed version? Because stumbling upon Naruto-kun and having a brief chat with him when he suddenly runs away doesn't explain much…" he said in exasperation. Well, he had asked for a brief report.

Itachi stiffened then shifted a little. "Hokage-sama, I'm afraid it's not my story to tell if you want the details of our conversation…"

Sandaime Hokage narrowed his eyes at Itachi then at Naruto. It seemed both of them wanted to keep the conversation a secret. "Very well…" He pushed a small amount of chakra into a hidden seal near the window. "Anything said here will not leave this room."

Naruto stared at the seal that glowed briefly a moment ago. So that's how privacy seals worked! "Naruto-kun," The young jinchuuriki jumped when the Uchiha called him, "do you mind if we tell Hokage-sama what happened?" he asked.

The young jinchuuriki flinched, wondering why Itachi even bothered to ask. He couldn't decide if the conversation was a harmless topic or not, so decided to give in and avoid suspicion. He had kept too many secrets from Sandaime-jiichan anyway. "I don't mind…" He'd calmed down with the presence of familiar people around him. It was just he'd never been alone with a potentially hostile stranger (that he knew of), which was why he'd panicked.

Itachi smiled at that. "For starters, I did stumble upon Naruto who was sitting on a branch of a gigantic oak tree in the forest."

Sandaime raised an eyebrow, "Gigantic Oak tree in the North forest? There's such a tree?" Konoha, just like her namesake, was full of lush forests, and though a majority of gigantic trees grew in training ground 44, some were scattered all over Konoha. Most of the tree species were Pine, Cedar and Yew but never an Oak. Shodaime grew trees about as often as breathing, so no one ever bothered to keep track of them all.

Naruto nodded as he stepped forward. "Yūjō no Ki, you know… the tree Shodaime gave to the Uchiha clan as a gift."

A spell of silence hung in the air as all eyes stared at Naruto. Even the stoic Uchiha Itachi stared at him with no small amount of incredulity. It was Sandaime who broke the silence. "There's such a tree?"

"Eh?" Naruto had a very bad feeling he had just dropped a bomb with his trivia. Neither Kurama nor Naruto knew that said tree had been forgotten about in the Nidaime's era after the relationship between the two clans became sour once again, which was why not even Sandaime knew about the tree.

"Never mind," Sandaime sighed. "So what were you talking about?"

Itachi turned his focus back to the Hokage then answered. "Naruto-kun's history essay," he said as he put the folded paper on the Hokage's desk. "It's very good, and he was kind enough to give it to me."

Naruto shifted on his feet when Sandaime unfolded the paper and began to read his essay. "It's very good as you said, Itachi-kun."

Good enough to impress the Uchiha scion, Sandaime noted amusedly. Itachi had always been a highly perceptive child wise beyond his years and spent much of his time researching the history of the village from the writings their ancestors left behind. While the essay was good and interesting to read, Sandaime was convinced that it wasn't the content that made Itachi interested but the _disturbingly _detailed narrative style it was in. While everything written in the essay could be found in history books, the way Naruto narrated it made it feel like he was watching the event with his own eyes, or at least heard it from someone who experienced the battle firsthand.

"That didn't explain why Naruto-kun ran away from you and gave you his essay," the Hokage continued, eyeing the prodigy as he searched for a sign of dishonesty.

Itachi shrugged. "I think it served as a diversion for his escape." Naruto cringed at how obvious he'd been. Itachi, on the other hand, was resigned about telling the Hokage the truth. "Why he ran… That's probably because he is aware of how my clan avoids him and was pretty unnerved when I approached him."

Naruto flinched at the attention that centered on him. "Uhm well… I know I'm not well-liked, but only Uchihas turn on their heels whenever they see me." He fidgeted. "And he…" he looked pointedly at Itachi, "approached me… and he even talked to me civilly so… I was getting cautious and nervous."

Sandaime and the ANBU members cringed inwardly at Naruto's innocent confession. All this time they'd been under the impression Naruto was very trusting and friendly to anyone who gave him even a shred of attention, yet it seemed they had been wrong.

"I'm sorry I ran away, Uchiha-san," Naruto said as he gave Itachi a low bow. "I'm just not used to strangers…" At least, not since he'd found out about Kurama and his status. "I didn't mean to be rude…"

Itachi shook his head. "You don't have to apologize, being vigilant and cautious are good traits for Shinobi." Naruto preened under the compliment. No matter what Kurama said about Uchihas, Itachi sounded sincere. "And I believe I should return this."

"But before that," Hokage interrupted their exchange, partially relieved the misunderstanding was solved. "Can I see that paper?"

Naruto blanched, but there was nothing he could do. He gave Itachi a reluctant nod to hand the paper over to Sandaime. _Busted. _

Sandaime's eyes widened when he saw what was written on the paper; it was basic research on Fuuinjutsu, but very elaborate and intelligible. "Hoo, you're learning fuuinjutsu, Naruto-kun?" He was definitely his parent's child, a budding fuuinjutsu prodigy.

Naruto nodded wordlessly. "Can I see your other notes?"

Much to everyones shock, Naruto backed away like a frightened rabbit and hugged his backpack protectively. "Naruto-kun?" Tori said worriedly. He couldn't recall Naruto being so possessive over something aside from ramen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen chukled softly, he had almost forgotten how protective and private the practitioner of the obscure art could be of their research, and how much they hated someone to take a peek at their notes. Jiraiya had almost punched him in the jaw when he insisted on peering over his disciple's shoulder when he wrote his notes out of curiosity. If the stories about what Minato and Kushina did to anyone who dared to take a peek on their notes without permission were true… Sandaime mentally noted to warn Naruto's future teammates about proper conduct of privacy for fuuinjutsu practitioner.

Kurama groaned in his cage as he watched his jinchuuriki's behavior. The Uzumaki always acted like mama bears protecting their cubs when it came to their research. It was an Uzumaki thing, though anyone who was taught by Uzumaki also acted like Jiraiya and Minato. Naruto was only just about to finish his research on basic study, and already he was this protective. Kurama didn't even want to know what Naruto would do if someone dared to look at his personal seal research without permission in the future. Maybe the only mistakes old man Rokudo ever did was procreating Uchiha-Senju and marrying that Uzumaki woman.

"Naruto-kun, I will return your notes… and I will be careful with it," Sandaime promised.

Naruto looked hesitant for a moment, then he gingerly approached Sandaime's desk and tiptoed to put his notes on it. "Here, jii-chan."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Sandaime smiled at the child as he carefully flipped the pages. "Hoo… impressive. You're a budding prodigy in fuuinjutsu, Naruto-kun."

Naruto preened under the praise. "Really?!" He beamed, giving a mental nod to Kurama when the fox reminded him to stay vigilant.

"You have grown to be such a knowledgeable child, Naruto… "

"Heh heh… I read a lot," Naruto admitted not so modestly.

"Ah yes…" Sandaime nodded sagely as he gave Naruto his notes back. "And you even know about Yūjō no Ki; something I didn't even know about. Where did you read it?"

Naruto froze in his tracks. _'Kurama, why doesn't jii-chan know about that tree?' _

The fox snorted, **_'probably because peace between the Uchihas and Senjus didn't last long, so the tree, of course… was forgotten…' _**

_'Then what should I say? I can't tell them you told me!' _Naruto lamented, but Kurama didn't answer, so he was left to his own devices. Naruto smiled as he recalled what he found on the same day he climbed the tree for the first time. "Heh heh heh…" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm just guessing actually." Sandaime raised an eyebrow. "Eh, on the top of the tree there's a carving of the Senju and Uchiha crest. Above it is Konoha's crest with the word Yūjō written. And since the tree is sooooo big, much bigger than a normal tree… so I thought only the Shodaime could grow it out!" Even if the Hokage sent his ninjas out to check, the story would fit since there was such a carving.

"Hoo…" The Sandaime nodded sagely. It seemed he was over thinking Naruto's resourcefulness. "Well done, Naruto-kun. You've found a precious monument… a legacy from our Shodaime." He mentally noted to issue a D rank to build a nice shiny signage and put sacred rope around the tree.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, jii-chan!" he said as he checked his notes, and then rechecked to make sure it was placed properly, blissfully unaware of the sad look on the Sandaime's face. It seemed Naruto didn't trust him.

Then again, it was pretty normal for those who descended from the Uzumaki line. Sandaime sighed wearily, "Naruto-kun, while it's fine to learn new things, it's frowned upon that you neglect your other subjects in school." Naruto shifted guiltily on his feet. "You've skipped all your taijutsu classes, and your marks, which became better last month, have dropped again…" Sandaime said wearily. "What can you say in your defense?"

"Uhm… I…" Much to Naruto's relief, Tori stepped foreward.

"Hokage-sama, may I voice my opinion?" He asked cordially.

Sandaime nodded, "I'm all ears, Tori."

The ANBU cleared his throat. "From my observations, Naruto-kun is not suited to the current curriculum of our academy," He stated sternly, and the boy stared openly at the bird masked ANBU. "Most of the classes are counterproductive to Naruto-kun's development, and the instructors are not…" The ANBU trailed off, looking for a fitting word. "Proficient… in dealing with a student like him."

The Hokage flinched inwardly at the subtle way his ANBU phrased the predicament. "Then please explain to me what kind of student Naruto-kun is, and how we should provide him with a 'suitable' tutelage."

Tori grinned under his mask. "Naruto-kun is a very talented child, and if we keep him in the academy, it would just curb his potential…" Then after a beat he added, "Naruto-kun has shown a remarkable aptitude for fuuinjutsu, a field of study that unfortunately… is not provided in the academy. And we all know what an invaluable asset a fuuinjutsu practitioner is…"

Sandaime nodded sagely in agreement, the main defense mechanism of Konoha was the legacy of Uzumaki Mito, and she was the best practitioner in her generation. Jiraiya, Minato and Kushina were seal masters and the key players in previous wars, with the first traveling to maintain their spy network and the latters passed away, Konoha was down to mid-level practitioners who maintained Konoha's barrier and the defense mechanism Mito-sama left them. It was hard to nurture a talented seal master due to the high risk in learning and difficulties.

"Naruto-kun's potential as a fuuinjutsu practitioner should be utilized… It's an asset Konoha can't afford to lose," Tori stated with conviction. "That alone should give him some privilege to further his studies in seals and other Shinobi arts."

The old Hokage held back a grin. Someone deserved a promotion for exploiting a loophole so as to give Naruto his education. Konoha had given many privileges to prodigies, though most of the time it was early graduation, like the one granted to Itachi, so the prodigy could gain field experience sooner. However, in Naruto's case, he was known as a prodigy in only certain field.

"I see… Naruto-kun." The boy perked up at the Hokage, elated he was once again included in the conversation. "You will spend the rest of this year in academy. And no more skipping classes…" Naruto cringed at Sandaime's warning. "I will talk with the academy's instructors about your circumstances…" If everything went smoothly, no instructor would refuse to help Naruto anymore. In fact, they would be eager to help, or at least neutral. "By the end of the year, I would like to see progress in the shinobi arts, especially fuuinjutsu."

Naruto nodded again, "Hai."

"Especially fuuinjutsu," the Sandaime repeated. "If you continue to make the same progress I have seen from your notes, you will be granted the privilege of an apprenticeship."

Naruto gaped at that. "Apprenticeship? What about the academy?"

The Hokage smiled at that. "You won't be required to attend it anymore… " Which would make the instructors happy that they didn't have to deal with Naruto anymore. "You will be considered graduated, but you won't be granted genin status until your master deems you genin level in the shinobi arts overall," the Sandaime finished his explanation, and as soon as the last world left his mouth, Naruto tackled him in a bear hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Naruto chanted happily then he kissed the Sandaime's cheeks fervently. "I love you, Hokage-jiichan! You're the best!"

Sandaime chuckled softly as he ruffled Naruto's spiky hair. "Yes, I am… but remember, it's you who has to work hard to earn these privileges."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, Jii-chan! I'll work hard!" he said as he released his hug, jumping backwards to land in front of the Hokage's desk. Naruto stood suddenly and bowed to the Sandaime with respect. "Hokage-sama, I thank you for giving me this opportunity. I promise to dedicate myself to fuuinjutsu and other Shinobi arts, so that I will not betray your expectations."

Sandaime looked at Naruto in surprise, startled to see such a mature, eloquent speech coming from a six-year-old kid. Even Tori looked surprised and proud under his mask, while Itachi observed his fellow prodigy attentively.

The old kage shook his head with an amused smiled on his face. It seemed they had underestimated Naruto a bit too much. "I'm looking forward to it, Naruto-kun…"

* * *

**And that wrap up the third chapter nicely, hopefully you like it and will review for me!**

******Naruto in this fic is 2 years earlier than Rookie 9 to enter academy, which is the only explanation I can think of that feasible to make him graduate together with students his age in canon. So at this point he already in his second year of academy, since he entered at 5. **

******Naruto at this point of time is secretive and cautious after he find out about his status, while maybe you would think the feeling of betrayed by HOkage is not eye-opener enough to make such a fast and drastic change... This is a kid we're talking about, one who ostracized for his whole life to boot. I just think kids in his situation will not trust easily anymore, and start to think anyone might be out to get him. He also come to depend on Kurama a lot and trusting the fox' judgement when it comes to surviving the society. It's not like he agree with Kurama in everything per se, but both of them have come to an agreement of 'better be careful than sorry' way of thinking.  
**

**Please note you can't expect fast update to go on forever... it's just easier to write early chapters for now :) But I promise I won't abandoned my story, the update will be slower but not neglected. Review shall serve as motivation! **


	4. 4th Legacy

**BTW in case no one noticed, academy probably starts in April like normal schools in Japan. This story started on late August, so by their academy year lasts for 7-8 months. Eh... Naruto is 7 now, coincidentally graduating the same age as Itachi. Though he is not a genin yet, he graduated nonetheless.  
It made me wonder how the hell Kakashi graduated at 5 DX  
It seems whenever the village is in a war footing or at least the generation before Naruto's, ninja graduate early, or maybe graduating at 10 considered to be average in Minato's generation.**

**4th Legacy****: Prodigy and Paranoia**

**Beta-ed by garoorar **

* * *

_**"You're someone who has seen how foolish humans become when consumed by hatred."  
**__Uchiha Itachi  
_

Naruto woke up with cold sweat drenching his whole body. He quickly gathered himself and moaned at his current state. He had to do his laundry twice a week at the rate he was using up his shirts whenever he woke up like this. He once contemplated sleeping naked but that's not an option in autumn, it may not be as cold as winter but it is still cold nonetheless.

He knew he was still a child, and to be haunted by nightmares is normal for children like him. But Naruto wanted to act like a mature boy, since whenever he acted mature the Sandaime would listen to him more, and so does the rest of his ANBU guards. All the times he acted as a brash and loud boy was simply to attract attention of villagers, but he realized that lately he cared more for the attention of the few people who acknowledged him.

So telling them about his nightmare was a big NO-NO! Especially if there is a chance that they might think that he was not mature enough after all and therefore not ready to graduate early… NO way in hell. Not to mention it was not a dream he could simply tell to anyone.

The dream was always the same, amidst the sound of rattling chains he saw a blond baby who he recognized as himself due to the whisker like marks on his face. He was cradled not by one but two pairs of arms, warm and loving. But there was so much blood and he cried as hard as he could to no avail as the warm cradle became colder and colder. He also saw a massive claw, one he knew so well, which belonged to Kurama. He had cried himself hoarse when he realized what he was seeing, or at least what he thought he was seeing. The scene of his parents impaled in Kurama's claw. The scene of his parent's dying from Kurama who was under someone else's control.

"I had parents..." He whispered to himself. Anyone else would feel incredulous hearing him utter those words. Of course everyone had parents who gave birth to them. However to a boy who has been orphaned for so long, the concept of having loving parents was foreign.

Ironically enough, Kurama seemed to understand the concept better than him, since to Kurama, the Sage of Six Paths was a father to the fox and the other bijuus. Thus this dream was something he never told Kurama, and the fox never asked either. Naruto had forgiven Kurama for his parent's death, and that forgiveness was something he didn't have to say out loud. Both of them had come to an unspoken agreement of the forgiveness exchanged between them, it was mutual.

* * *

Since then, academy instructors started to leave him alone, which for him was much better than the sabotage he once endured. It seemed that they really wanted him to get out of their hair as soon as possible, and Naruto wanted the same. At least for now the academy was the least of his problems. All he needed to do was do his best to get that apprenticeship right and he'll be out of the academy. So Naruto poured all of his efforts to do his best for the rest of the year to further his studies in every field. He really was not required to be the best in practice in other fields aside from Fuuinjutsu so he could still work on his own pace in theory and focus in his chosen field.

Much to Naruto's delight the Sandaime gave him his full support, and even went as far as to give his old books for Naruto as a birthday present.

Tori warned Naruto about his naturally large chakra reserves and suggested that he start to learn chakra control exercises early on, because if he didn't he would be bound to screw up in chakra sensitive techniques. So Naruto started to squeeze in tree climbing and water walking in his already heavily packed schedule. While life was good for Naruto, he noticeably started to distance himself from his classmates. If before he kept trying to get their attention, now he was too busy with his studies that he completely neglected his already nonexistent social life with his peers.

It was worrying the Sandaime, but he couldn't blame Naruto for focusing in his studies. Then again it seemed that Naruto had given up on trying to form any friendships with his classmates, all the boy could think about was getting out of the academy and fulfilling the Sandaime's expectation. Naruto still called him jii-chan from time to time but whenever they talked about his apprenticeship Naruto would switch to Hokage-sama. He had no idea where Naruto learned how to act professional and awkwardly mature at times, but it was obvious that Naruto tried to adapt speaking like this with his most frequent companions, which consisted of the Hokage, the Ichiraku family and his ANBU detail. But it was not healthy for a boy his age to only socialize with adults, and ANBU shouldn't be Naruto's most frequent companions. The Sandaime brought this topic up with the ANBU squad he assigned to protect Naruto, and thankfully they had a solution. Hopefully Naruto could bond with someone around his age before he graduated and completely cut himself off from his peers in pursuit of knowledge.

Naruto was becoming too much like Orochimaru for his comfort.

While the Sandaime was worrying over his nonexistent social life, Naruto was over the moon with each passing week that put him closer to his dream. With his latest report to the Hokage about his studies, it was almost a sealed deal that by the end of academy year he would be introduced to a seal master to be apprenticed. Life was good, however there was one problem still hanging over his head.

Namely Uchiha Itachi, the scion of Uchiha clan who had been a constant companion of his for the last few weeks. It was not like the Uchiha heir treated him badly, it was actually the opposite. Uchiha Itachi was trying to be his friend, or at least he thought that was what the older boy had been attempting in the last few weeks.

Naruto eyed the Uchiha who had occupied his favorite haunt, namely the branches of the Yūjō no Ki. The tree had become a sacred monument of Konoha but the Sandaime allowed him to use the said tree, as long as he took a good care of it. The tree was so old it was imbued by Hashirama's chakra, and those who knew the man would have felt it. It was actually one of the reasons why they allowed him to use the precious monument, hoping to calm the bijuu and lessening the risk of escape. Fortunately for them it works somewhat, but not for the reasons they suspect. Kurama didn't like the tree but it soothed him, not because of Hashirama's chakra but because he inherited his ancestor's body thus to bijuu, Hashirama's tree had some sort lingering scent of their creator. Like how a child would feel safe and comforted by something with their mother's scent.

"Uhm... good afternoon Uchiha-san." He rarely called someone with their proper honorifics, since to him it was a sign of unfamiliarity. He was still wary of the Uchiha but he was willing to give Itachi the benefit of doubt. After all it was partially thanks to Itachi that he got a chance to prove himself.

"Just call me Itachi." The prodigy suggested as Naruto pushed himself up to sit on the branch. "You can add senpai if you insist on calling me with honorifics."

Naruto nodded hesitantly, "Okay... Itachi-senpai."

For some reason he couldn't comprehend why Itachi started visiting the Yūjō no Ki around same time he did. There were not much words exchanged between them. Itachi would come out of nowhere, greet him politely then ask about his day in the academy. Greetings he would return with a curt nod and same amount of politeness.

Eventually, the Uchiha scion started bringing him treats, and not just candy kind but Japanese sweets like dango, youkan, mochi, etc. Naruto couldn't recall just when Itachi started sitting beside him in the same branch of Yūjō no Ki, eating Japanese sweets and drinking green tea.

Unless Itachi was on mission he always arrived at the same time in the afternoon at 4PM, and only stays for twenty minutes tops. The topics of their conversations were light and would shift from the weather to the taste of sweets and exchange of greetings. It was like they're maintaining some sort of status quo.

A status quo both Naruto and Kurama were running out patience for, especially when Tori not so subtly implied that the ANBU squad allowed Itachi to keep him company whenever he visited the tree. Apparently they were worried about his lack of friends, and thought Itachi would be good for him. The Uchiha heir had a younger brother Naruto's age, and while Itachi was four years older than him, he too was still considered a kid like Naruto. He was also a prodigy, and they thought he could relate to Naruto.

They arranged for him to have a _play dates _with Uchiha Itachi! Imagine that!  
Kurama was throwing tantrums on his cage, and demanded him to stop visiting the damn tree. Naruto pointed out they had no choice, because unless Kurama could think of a reasonable excuse to give to Tori, it would be too suspicious for someone as lonely as he was to reject company. Not to mention Naruto somewhat felt guilty for his behavior towards the young heir in their first encounter. In short there was no way out for him but to endure the play dates.

* * *

At the start of third week of their somewhat awkward afternoon routine, Naruto found the Uchiha heir waiting for him in the same branch _again._ As usual the Uchiha was sitting on the branch in a lotus position, a small package of sweets and a thermos of green tea by his side. He looked as serene as ever and was patiently waiting for Naruto's arrival. It made Naruto wonder if this guy didn't have better things to do. Wasn't he a newly recruited ANBU?! Then again, he was part of Tori's squad, so accompanying Naruto was probably part of his job. He could always appreciate a company, but not from an enigma like Itachi. He couldn't put a finger on what kind of person Itachi was, and he wondered if he wanted to know the Uchiha at all.

"Good afternoon Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded hesitantly, "Itachi-senpai, were you waiting for me?" He asked as he pushed himself to stand on the thick branch.

Itachi nodded, "Yes, I wish to speak to you… It's important."

"..." Naruto was not used to feeling surprised. He was the one who always takes everyone by surprise after all. Then again this was the famed prodigious scion of Uchiha; he thought that he would be the one to confront Itachi to know the older boy's true objectives in approaching him but Itachi beat him to it. "What would you like to talk about?" Naruto asked politely.

"You don't have to be so formal with me Naruto-kun, you're even less formal with Hokage-sama than you are to me." Itachi pointed out sternly.

Naruto shrugged, "Fine senpai, but I am still at a loss as to why you even want to talk with someone like me."

"It is someone _like you_ that I want to talk with." Itachi replied swiftly.

The jinchuuriki raised an eyebrow at Itachi, "Like what?!"

"You're someone who has seen how foolish humans become when consumed by hatred." Itachi told the younger boy bluntly.

Naruto's eyes went wide as he suddenly stood, and then he unconsciously took a step back from Itachi. Then he burst to a fit of laughter, "Wow! Nice one, senpai! You have a flair for theatrics! Is it an Uchiha art? Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"…"

"Ha ha ha!" Naruto continued to forcibly laugh.

"…"

"Ha ha ha ha…"

"Hn."

_'This is getting ridiculous! What this guy is up to?!'_

_**'I heard that, this Uchiha is sharp damn it.' **_Kurama cursed. _**'Don't let him to take the reins in this conversation, or better yet… ditch him.' **_The bijuu suggested helpfully.

He groaned inwardly, _'I will look too suspicious if I did it again! Better get him to spill now then dragging it on!'_

_**'Whatever~ I will take a nap, go learn how to deal with an Uchiha by yourself but keep your head where it belongs.'**_ And with that Kurama went back to sleep, keeping an eye open just in case his jinchuuriki screwed up.

Naruto snapped at the older boy, "Get to the point! Screw subtlety! Mind games are not my forte! I am seven!" He shouted at Itachi, pointing an accusing finger at the Uchiha's scion.

"I am not playing mind games with you Naruto-kun." Itachi assured the younger boy.

Naruto slumped back to his sitting position, "Fine! I just don't have the patience for talking in circles." The young jinchuuriki stated with a huff, "Are you implying that I know 'why' they hate me?" Now it was his turn to be as blunt as a rampaging Rhino, giving the Uchiha a taste of his own medicine.

Itachi's eyes widened for a moment before he schooled his stoic face back. "I see…"

It seemed Naruto had found out about his jinchuuriki status from some source. Then again it was not that much a stretch of the imagination since wherever went, whispers about demons and the kyuubi followed the child like a plague. Naruto had an aptitude for Fuuinjutsu, a branch of study that requires perceptiveness, so it won't be impossible for the child to put two and two together. Especially once he learned about the applications of fuuinjutsu, sealing demons after all was one of the first objectives in the creation of fuuinjutsu.

The blond snorted, "What did you see now, I wonder?" He gritted his teeth, "So I am right, you just wanted to confirm that…" The majority of village already distrusts him, it would seem that this person was just another in that already long list. What else is new, Naruto thought sarcastically.

Itachi flinched inwardly, his lips curved down. "I mean no harm Naruto-kun." He stated sternly, "At this point you must have understood the basic theory of fuuinjutsu, and villagers are never subtle to show their animosity towards you… I wanted to know what _you_ would do about it."

Naruto glared at the Uchiha heir, "If you're afraid that I am going to do something stupid as taking revenge on them, you needn't worry, rest assured... the occasional prank is as far as I would go." He waved his hand in negative, "As far I'm concerned, hating them back is not going to make me happier." He gritted his teeth as his eyes closed, "I will just sink to their level…"

Itachi looked at Naruto with an unreadable expression, but there was an unmistakable spark of gratitude and admiration in his eyes. "That's… very wise of you…" This boy hadn't even lived through war, or witnessed countless lives lost as those left behind mourned their passing. But Naruto understood the misplaced hatred the villagers have, that they wanted someone to blame on for their loss, and he understands that returning their hatred would just make the pain last longer, and in doing so the wounds that everyone kept in their hearts would never mend.

The jinchuuriki snorted, "I am no saint though, I believe life is easier when you take it in stride…" He gritted his teeth, "But that doesn't change the fact that they want to make my life as miserable as they could, so I am _reasonably_ wary of anyone who approaches me…"

The chuunin titled his head to the side, and then he sighed. "I hope so far I have done nothing that could make you think I hate you for your burden." He drawled calmly.

Naruto shook his head, "Look Itachi-senpai… I don't know why you keep me company for the last two weeks, and I am torn between being grateful and terrified of you."

"But I…" Itachi opened his mouth to refute.

Naruto cut him off, "No! Don't you understand? I am aware of your clan's position right now." Itachi blanched at that, "Which is why I am _reasonably_ wary of you."

Itachi paused as he contemplated Naruto's statement, and then after a beat he replied. "You're right."

Naruto looked at the older boy incredulously, "You just… accepted it? Just like that?"

"Yes." Itachi nodded, "You're right, it's inevitable to be wary of a member of clan with a traitorous history. To be honest I have to say that it's wise of you to be wary of us, especially because of what you hold."

His blue eyes couldn't get wider as he stared at Itachi with a mix of disbelief and astonishment. He shook his head, "I can't believe you just approved of my paranoia concerning your clan, but before you get any ideas… no, I have nothing against the Uchiha clan personally. It's just…"

"Could you talk with it?" Itachi asked with a voice that tinted with curiosity.

Naruto glared at the Uchiha, "If I say yes, are you going to think I am possessed and report me to Hokage-jiichan?"

Itachi shook his head, "I remember how its chakra feels, if you're possessed I am sure I can tell." Then after a beat he added, "I promise I will not report this conversation to Hokage-sama, unless you give me your consent."

Naruto sighed in relief, "Thanks, but it's _him_ not it." He corrected, then he eyed Itachi who raised an eyebrow at him cynically. "You're a Shinobi and yet you tell me you will keep my secret from jii-chan if I ask you? Just like that?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

The Uchiha nodded, "You have your reasons to keep it a secret, and you have no intention to harm our village in spite of your suffering because of them… you have right to keep your secrets at least." He listed on, and then he added. "I have… a brother your age, just a few months older than you."

"Oh?" What was he getting at?

"That night… my parents were out, and I was left behind to tend for my brother… I didn't see the Kyuubi firsthand but I can feel his chakra." Itachi rubbed his temple as the terrible memory resurfaced. "The Kyuubi's chakra was dangerous… children were crying the moment they felt it, if Yondaime-sama didn't seal him as soon as he did the casualties wouldn't be just from ninja on the front lines… those who were already physically weak like the elders, pregnant mothers, infants… at that point they would have died just from exposure…including my brother..." Itachi stood suddenly and bowed to Naruto with respect, "That night… everyone was desperate to protect our village, and Konoha would have been no more if not for your sacrifice. For bearing that burden for all of us and not giving in to hatred, I can't thank you enough…"

That was the longest sentence Naruto ever heard from Itachi. He knew people who cared for him were grateful for his sacrifice, but Itachi was the first to honestly express that gratitude to him, to say it out loud for him. For once… someone was being plainly honest to him. Maybe Itachi really deserved that benefit of doubt.

Naruto rubbed his temple, a smile painted on his lips. "I guess… you're really different after all." Itachi raised an eyebrow, "I will ask you one thing, and I want you to answer it honestly Itachi-senpai…"

"I will…" Itachi vowed.

"Do you hate him? My tenant?" Naruto asked.

That was an unexpected query, and it caught him off guard. "Do I hate him?" Itachi echoed, he never thought Naruto would ask how he feels about the bijuu who was also the source of the growing distrust towards his clan. "To be honest I should hate him, considering that he is the reason my clan is ostracized by our village. However... that's if he really is a natural disaster and was not controlled by my kin to attack Konoha like they suspected. Then again in that situation the Kyuubi is enemy of Konoha, as one of her shinobi I shall protect her from him out of duty and love for the village, not because of any personal feelings such as hatred."

Naruto blinked owlishly, there's nothing that could knock this guy off of his feet huh? But his reason was more believable that way. "Well... that's so rational of you Itachi-senpai." He admitted then called his tenant mentally. _'Kurama, sorry for disturbing your nap, but what do you think of him?'_

_**'I heard everything, and while I still don't like the Uchiha or this boy. I have to say he is a lot more logical than any Uchiha I was unfortunate enough to meet." **_Kurama grunted,_** 'Unfortunately for him, the village's suspicion towards his clan is not wrong. An Uchiha was the culprit who controlled me years ago.'**_

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted, startling Itachi but the older boy was calm enough not to show it. Naruto covered his mouth as he realized that he accidentally talked to Kurama out loud. _'Kurama! You didn't tell me that!'_

_**'I thought it's easy to put two and two together, I told you I was controlled! Hashirama is dead, and you know how my previous hosts treated me, of course it's an Uchiha!'**_

_'Well... when you put it that way...' _Naruto flushed mentally then he looked at Itachi, how the hell he was going to break it to the older boy. "It seems, the villagers' suspicion towards your clan... eh..."

Itachi closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "So it's not misplaced…" He looked at Naruto, "This is actually another question I need the answer from you Naruto-kun, I want to know… if it's really someone from my clan who caused that tragedy..." His gaze hardened, "Could he tell you who it is? Did he recognize anything that we can use to identify the culprit?"

"Wait! Wait!" It was the first time Naruto saw Itachi on the brink of losing his composure. "Give me time to talk with him please?" Itachi flinched guiltily at that as he waited for Naruto to speak again with his bijuu. _'Kurama, do you know_ _which Uchiha?_'

_**'Madara.'**_ Kyuubi spat in disgusted tone.

Naruto face palmed, _'Kurama, that better be not your grudge talking…'_

Kurama groaned, then again he had to admit his memory of that night was not the best._** 'He was wearing a mask that only has one hole for a sharingan eye, and was wearing black cloak. His chakra is foul and full of hatred, typical of the Uchiha. If he is not Madara, he might as well be the second coming of the bastard.' **_Kurama muttered scornfully.

Naruto nodded, "He said the culprit is wearing a mask that only shows his right sharingan eye, his chakra is full of hatred..." Naruto titled his head to the side, "He said it's typical for Uchiha for some reason."

Itachi swallowed heavily at that, "So even the Kyuubi thinks so... maybe the Uchiha really is a cursed clan."

"Considering his long standing grudge against the Uchiha, you shouldn't take it too seriously." Naruto said bluntly before he could stop himself, Itachi eyed him curiously. "Eh I mean... at least I can say that you're not a bad person Itachi-senpai."

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Itachi muttered solemnly.

Naruto nodded hesitantly, "You're welcome, and I guess I should start blaming this guy or something?" He shook his head, "I doubt he is even in the village right now though since my tenant would have been throwing tantrums more often if he ever feels the guy anywhere even near Konoha." And unless that guy had a legitimate reason to cause so much destruction... Naruto gave himself a mental shake, he already had enough on his plate for today, for now he had to survive and stay sane, that was a hard enough task.

Itachi rubbed his throbbing cranium, there went his plan to find the culprit and hand the bastard over to Hokage-sama to regain Konoha's trust. "This is so messed up." He concluded wearily.

"I'm starting to think that every time a truth comes up it's bound to be a mess." Naruto muttered sardonically, "So, what are you going to do now that you have learned the truth you wanted, Itachi-senpai?" He asked curiously.

For the first time since Naruto knew Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy looked really lost. "I don't know." He admitted honestly, "How do you deal with this Naruto-kun?"

"You're asking me?" Naruto asked back incredulously, "I told you, I just take it all in stride I guess, and work hard for the best. Even if the villagers don't like me any better than before, my life _is_ starting to look up. I now have something to pursue, to live up to the legacy of my clan... everyone I care about could be proud of the present me now that I am no longer a failure." Itachi chuckled softly at that, earning a raised eyebrow from the blond. "What's so funny?"

Itachi shook his head, wearing an apologetic look on his face as he realized that he might have offended the younger boy. "Pardon me, but it's just... from what I gathered you're far from being a failure, both as a human... and as a jinchuuriki." He stated firmly, "I haven't met any other jinchuuriki, but I have heard that those who are shunned by their people usually grow distant, uncontrollable, and are sometimes even driven to madness..."

"I thought any info on jinchuuriki is closely guarded by each village…" Naruto wondered out loud.

"No secret is safe in war, especially when it comes to full-scale wars like the Shinobi wars." Itachi said solemnly.

Naruto eyed Itachi skeptically, "I see, so I am pretty stable by jinchuuriki standards?" He asked curiously.

"If half of the things I heard about what other villages have to deal with their jinchuuriki are right, I have to say Konoha is _very_ lucky to have you." Itachi said honestly. On his last mission he worked with a jounin that had a mission involving a short visit to Suna. The senior told Itachi that he had seen a boy around Naruto's age killing someone out of the blue.

"... Nice to know I am appreciated for being sane." Naruto droned, shaking his head in disbelief. He then eyed the older boy dubiously, Itachi is holding out a hand to him, "Is that what I think it is?"

"It is." Itachi said cordially, his lips curved up to a small and barely noticeable smile as Naruto accepted his hand.

"This is the start of a very unlikely and awkward..." Naruto trailed off but the smile on his face betrayed his feelings.

"…Friendship." Itachi finished. "But I am sure the awkwardness will wear off with time."

Naruto moaned, "Great, do I have to deal with you rationalizing everything all the time from now on?"

Itachi nodded, "Someone has to be a voice of reason Naruto-kun."

"I am sure I will appreciate that." Naruto said with a grin, ignoring Kurama who lamented the inevitable and how they were going to regret this one day. Perhaps the Yūjō no Ki was really more than just a monument, and under that tree's blessing he gained his first friend.

"Hn."

"Oh! The famous _Hn_ of the Uchiha." Naruto chirped, rolling his eyes. "By the way speaking of your clan Itachi-senpai... the Uchiha is a clan of fire-breathers right?"

He nodded, "Yes." Itachi answered. "Why?"

Naruto grinned from ear to ear, "Perfect! Is there anyone in your clan that you think would volunteer to be an experimental subject?"

"You mean, stupid enough to be a guinea pig for your demonstrations which might involve explosions among other things?" Itachi rephrased in stoic tone.

Naruto's left eye twitched, "And here I tried to make it sound humane."

"Hn."

The blond jinchuuriki face-palmed, "How Uchiha of you." He complimented theatrically.

* * *

**Three days later...**

Uchiha Shisui didn't know what to think when Itachi asked for help in some sort of mock spar to demonstrate some new shinobi products. His younger cousin was a genius, and he'd also like to think himself as one, even though he may not be of Itachi's caliber, but most of the time even he couldn't understand Itachi's train of thought. Then again his favorite cousin was just _that_ special.

"Sure." He answered without second though. "What kind of stuff we're going to do a demo for?"

"High-quality seals." Was Itachi's curt answer.

One hour later Shisui had one opinion of the tags the blond boy generously gave him, "Awesome stuff! This is the fire seal ever!" He exclaimed while looking at the cross shaped burn mark on the ground. They were in training ground 22, which consisted of rocky ground that was the typical terrain found in Earth country.

Naruto stared at the Uchiha, wondering if this was a mutated Uchiha or an adopted one judging from how un-Uchiha like he acted. Itachi in the first glance was a typical Uchiha though one could say that he is actually a bit off as an Uchiha. Shisui was even weirder, and so carefree. Then again, so far all his info on how Uchiha were supposedly like came from Kurama. "Uhm thanks?" He said awkwardly. "I am glad to hear that." Deep inside he wanted to whoop at the praise, but decided to against it in front of a stranger like Shisui.

Shisui raised an eyebrow at the socially awkward child, acting mature and polite that didn't fit for someone his age. How unlike the little Sasuke who would have been beaming with glee when praised. "No wonder you're Itachi's new friend, you're as awkward as he is."

"Pardon me? What did you say just now?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

The oldest Uchiha in vicinity stared at the blond in disbelief, then looked at his younger cousin. "What did you do Itachi? He said _'p__ardon me' …_him! a kid as old as Sasuke-chan!"

Itachi frowned at his cousin, "Pardon me?" He echoed, "What makes you think it's my fault?"

The said cousin scoffed, "Well... kids Naruto-chan's age are supposed to whoop and grin when praised."

"…_chan_?" Naruto drawled in an indignant tone.

Itachi face-palmed while Shisui was grinning from ear to ear. The younger Uchiha could tell where his cousin's train of thought was going, Shisui was trying to get Naruto to show his real personality. Itachi knew Naruto always put his guard on whenever he meets a stranger, acting polite, stiff and distant. Unless he was pressured like what Itachi did to him, Naruto won't show even a shred of his real personality. Especially since Shisui was supposed to be Itachi's sparring partner to field test his seals, to Naruto Shisui was some just sort of business partner.

"Yes Naruto-chan." Shisui was nodding sagely, "You're... seven right? So you're Naruto-chan, you're even shorter than little cousin Sasuke! And here I thought he was a midget."

The use of past tense wasn't lost on Naruto as the blond boy struggled to keep his temper in check. _'Who did he call a midget?! How dare he!' _Naruto roared inwardly but all he said in reality was, "I see..." No, he did not see… at all.

In his mind scape Naruto was throwing a tantrum in front of Kurama's cage, much to the fox's amusement. _**'I almost thought that you've really growing up, it's a relief to see a small insult like that could still get on your nerves so easily.'**_

_'Kurama...'_

The fix opened one eye,_** 'Yeah?'**_

_'Do you know any methods to grow taller?' _He asked hopefully.

_**'I guess.' **_Kurama answered curtly_, __**'Go drink lots of dairy products and eat and high protein stuff.' **_As usual Kurama opted give him advice in a single sentence and hoped his host could figure out the rest. It always worked anyway.

_'Hmph! Fine Kurama!' _As he finished his mental conversation which lasted for no longer than few second Naruto turned to Itachi, raising an eyebrow asking a silent question, how he could stand Shisui. Which was replied by a shrug by the Uchiha heir, translated as he grew used to it.

Shisui's left eyebrow was twitching dangerously as he watched the silent exchange, "I can't believe you, Itachi! You corrupted a kid like Naruto-chan!" He shouted indignantly, pointing an accusing finger at the stoic boy.

Itachi face-palmed, "Shisui, be quiet."

Naruto decided to copy Itachi's strategy, just tolerate Shisui's antics before his hair got prematurely grey. He cleared his throat, "Hokage-sama is coming soon, do you need more time to experiment with the seal? Would you like me to explain how it works again?" He asked in a solemn tone.

Itachi nodded, "Maybe we should wait for Hokage-sama and the seal master, that way you won't have to repeat it later."

"Oh, I guess that would be good." Naruto agreed with a nod.

Shisui titled his head to the side, curiously eyeing the stack of tags on the wooden stump that Naruto used as a table. His eyes were drawn to ball shaped bomb with seal array and kanji for Hikari on it. "Hey Naruto-chan, you didn't explain that tag to us! It's a new flash tag right?!" He pointed at the flash bomb.

Naruto shook his head fervently, "Don't _even_ think about it Shisui-senpai." He warned the cheerful Uchiha, "I have yet to test that flash bomb properly, and I don't want anyone _especially_ doujutsu users like you to be blinded by the end of the day." He shuddered mentally; maybe inventing that flash bomb was not the best idea, but Kurama was very adamant about it, in case-they ran to that bastard Uchiha who controlled him again.

Shisui blinked when he saw Itachi scooped the three small round bombs and hand it to Naruto, "You better keep it with you then before my dear cousin gets any ideas." The onyx eyed shinobi muttered.

"OI!"

Naruto sweat-dropped as he put the bombs back to his backpack, both of them ignoring Shisui's indignant shouts. "Thank you Itachi-senpai."

"It's better to be safe than sorry." Then he turned to Shisui, "And I told you to keep it down cousin." Itachi said in chiding tone.

"I am older than both of you!" Shisui reminded them.

Naruto's eyes widened in faked shock, "You are?"

"I keep forgetting that myself." Itachi admitted, his voice devoid of emotion but the slight shake of his shoulders gave away his mirth. "He certainly didn't act his age Naruto-kun."

Shisui moaned, "Great! Now there are two smart-asses I have to deal with!"

"Shisui, mind your language." Itachi chided him, "You're the one who called him Naruto-chan, and yet you use such language around him."

The curly haired Uchiha pouted, "I know!" Shisui huffed, "Sasuke-chan is my favorite cousin now, and you're the new least favorite cousin! Right under Tekka!" Shisui exclaimed triumphantly.

Itachi nursed his throbbing cranium, "Shisui..." Of all people he put him below that Tekka? Their cousin who was five years older, but just recently promoted as a chuunin. He had been glaring daggers at them since the last exam because Shisui's team gave Tekka's problem in second round and on the third round Itachi defeated him in less than ten minutes. Uchiha prodigy or not, Tekka's pride was severely crushed in being defeated by a ten year old kid.

"Yeah! Tekka! That Tekka!" Shisui howled.

"Shisui." Itachi said in berating tone.

The cheery Uchiha looked really happy boasting that Itachi was below this Tekka person, maybe a stuck up cousin of theirs? And for once Itachi looked really insulted by the arrangement. "Hmhm… Ha ha ha." Both Uchiha stopped as they stared at Naruto, the blond jinchuuriki was laughing, his eyes closed but they could see a glimmer of bright azure under golden eyelashes that shone with delight. Naruto hunched over as holding his stomach, his lips curved up to a wide grin as he tried to keep his laughter in control but light chuckles still escaped him. "Ha ha... "

Naruto cleared his throat, flushing a bit red on his cheeks. "Uhm, sorry... I..." The next thing he knew, Shisui had glomped him.

"Gosh, it's like seeing the mini Itachi losing his composure!" Shisui cackled mischievously, lifting Naruto up enthusiastically, earning a yelp from the blond. "How cu..." His sentence was cut short by a kick on his face. "Gah!"

Naruto didn't know what possessed him, but he had acted on instinct. The moment someone he still dubbed as stranger went too familiar and had gone as far as hugging him, he kicked said person. And then he ran to the only familiar person nearby and tried to hide. He froze when he realized what he had done, and wondered if Shisui would be angry. Unexpectedly Shisui burst to a fit of laughter, "Oh my god Itachi! He is hiding behind you! He is shy!"

Itachi looked at Naruto who looked ready to curl up to a ball and decided he had to save the younger boy from further unintentional humiliation by Shisui. "I think that's enough from you, don't tease him Shisui. You know who he is, and how villagers treat him." Shisui stiffened at the reprimand. "He is not used to... someone he just met getting overly familiar with him." Not to mention hugging him, Itachi added on his mind. He remembered before their conversation, Naruto was very skittish around him, and that he had to approach the boy with caution.

Shisui looked apologetic as he crouched down so his eyes were in Naruto's level. "I am sorry Naruto-chan. Bad habit of mine..."

Naruto titled his head to the side as he contemplated what the Uchiha said. He nodded slowly, "I am sorry for overreacting too, uhm... Shisui-senpai." Even so he was still unwilling to leave his comfort zone, namely behind Itachi's legs. Why was his paranoia was eating at him this much? God! Being cautious was one thing; paranoia was making him crazy. He rolled his eyes inwardly when Kurama told him that if being paranoid could get him to live for another day, it was worth it. Kurama had almost zero concern regarding quality of his host's life, then again considering his life for the last few centuries...

"No problem Naruto-chan." Shisui assured him, laughing at the sight of Naruto's strained smile that didn't match the throbbing vein on his temple.

**"Naruto-kun."**

Two Uchihas and one Uzumaki turned to see the Hokage approaching, smiling genially at them. Naruto's eyes were briefly drawn to a man who walked a few steps behind the Sandaime. He was probably in his mid to late thirties, a soft smile in his face made him appeared a mild-mannered, curly dark brown hair that parted on the left and eyes of the same color framed by a square glasses. He wore a black kimono and a white haori with kanji for fuuin on his right and left sleeves.

They bowed in respect to their village leader, "Hokage-sama."

The Hokage returned it with curt nod, "I see you have become friends with Itachi and Shisui, Naruto-kun." The old kage didn't even bother to conceal his relieved sigh, earning a puzzled look from the blond boy. Then he turned to the man who stood a few steps behind him, "This is Aizen Sousuke, the current head of the Fuuin Division of konoha."

Naruto looked at the gentle looking man, rather than looking like a shinobi he looked like a scholar. Then again you could never judge a shinobi from his/her looks, most of the time at least. Aizen smiled genially at the blond, leaning down so he could look at Naruto in the eye. "Hello Naruto-kun, I am Aizen Sousuke and I will be your teacher."

The young jinchuuriki tried his best to smile, "That is if I can impress you with my meager skills Aizen-san." He reminded the seal master modestly.

Aizen shook his head, "Nonsense, I have seen your research notes and I am very impressed." Then he looked at the Sandaime, "After studying those, I don't think I'm going to let anyone else get their hands on him."

Sarutobi chuckled softly, "Eager to utilize the potential of a young talent Aizen?"

Itachi didn't know why but his instincts told him to be wary of Aizen Sousuke. He had rarely seen anyone from the Fuuin Division because most of them spend a majority of their career in their headquarters to maintain Konoha's barrier and other fuuinjutsu defenses that the Shodaime's wife left for Konoha. While they were an important part of Konoha's defense force, they were relatively weak compared to other divisions when it comes to physical strength. They mostly do paperwork like the chuunin secretaries at the Hokage tower which is why it is easy to consider them to be more like scholars than shinobi.

Frontline seal masters were rare, and as rare as they were, the level of mastery of most of them was sketchy. Not everyone could juggle between research and combat practice, and attempting fuuinjutsu in battle was quite a feat even as support. Konoha currently only had Jiraiya and Kakashi and while a number of Jounin may have a little above-average skill in the obscure art, none of them could use more fuuinjutsu-save-kuchiyose in the heat of battle. While Naruto with his jinchuuriki status was more suitable for the frontlines, his lineage would make Konoha's upper echelon keep him in check. He was an Uzumaki, a clan with unparalleled skill in fuuinjutsu. While Konoha could use Uzumaki Mito's legacy from generation to generation, no seal masters including Jiraiya were capable enough to modify, improve or fix the seals, it was an untouchable work of art of the highest caliber in Fuuinjutsu. If there's anyone with potential to create seals of that caliber, it would be Uzumaki Naruto.

He could see what Konoha wanted, and what the Hokage would do to give it to her.

Itachi ran through the rocky ground, hopping from one rock to another. Shisui was ahead, and both of them were well aware that they were heading to a clearing. Shisui's grin was a signal that Itachi should start attacking. The prodigy jumped, his sharingan came to life as four shuriken shaped objects were held between his fingers. It looked like normal Shuriken at a first glance but it was made of ceramic not metal, and the tips were not sharp but tapered, a rune carved from each tip to the center which held 炎(Honoo) engraving He threw it with admirable precision, two of them passing Shisui and as soon as both landed on the ground the seal carved on it glowed briefly before cross shaped fire sprouted from its tips, forming a wall of fire.

"Whoa!" Shisui yelped as he was trapped in a square formation of **Katon no Juujika-Fuuin** (Fire Element Cross Seal) The older Uchiha grinned as he backed away from the fire only to stop on his tracks the moment another wall of fire erupted and blocked his escape route. Shisui shunshin-ed away from the cage of fire with ease and reappeared ten feet away from his original position. His sharingan eyes widened as he bent backward to avoid another of the same seal carved projectile which was this time already active as it cut through the air. Shisui could feel the intense heat on the tip of his nose as the he missed the flaming current of the projectiles by two inches as they wheezed past him.

The Sandaime smiled bemusedly at the two Uchiha, it seemed that they enjoyed their fiery spar. Then again the Uchiha were always a clan of pyromaniacs, his sensei used to tell him. "That's enough! Itachi! Shisui!" Shisui seemed unsatisfied at cutting the experiment short but Itachi shot him a warning glance. The two Uchiha walked back to where the spectators of the spar sat, under an Adenium tree which was the only tree that grew in that training ground.

Aizen Sousuke clapped a few times, a gentle smile firmly in place. "That's prodigious, as expected of the Uchiha clan. Naruto-kun only told you how to activate the seal and its functions, but you figured out how to apply it in battle yourself."

Itachi nodded, "Thank you for your kind words Aizen-dono, the last seal I used... Katon no Juujika Fuuin seems very useful to corner opponents and can be used as a surprise attack." He turned to Naruto as he fished out the last shuriken shaped device from his pouch, "Its design makes it convenient to use but... Naruto-kun, why it's made of ceramic?" He asked curiously, though he was sure it won't break since Naruto used durability seals on it too.

Naruto sighed at that, "Well... for one, I am no smith and I don't have that kind of money to purchase customized shuriken from a blacksmith."

Aizen nodded in understanding, "I see, is it possible to make this seal work for other elements?"

Naruto looked thoughtful as he contemplated the query, "Probably." He decided, "I asked Itachi-senpai since these seals would work better for ninja with fire affinity. I can make this seal to be general so what comes out would be the user's affinity. Though not for earth... water may still work but it's easily more applicable for fire, wind and lightning." He shook his head, "That's only in theory though."

The Hokage nodded in approval, "How about the other seals you used? Itachi-kun? Shisui-kun?"

Shisui titled his head to the side as he fished out a tag from his pouch. "This one..." He glared at Itachi. "…made my feet stick to the ground, very good for trapping unless you face an earth element ninja." He eyed his bare feet in distaste, "Though if it only get to our feet, anyone can pull lizard style escape."

Itachi shrugged, "I have to say that while Shisui is correct, those who are caught unaware would be an easy target even for a few seconds. This seal, **Gome Jimen Fuuin** (Sticky Ground Seal) is good, though the range is poor as it only works on a three feet radius from the seal."

Naruto sighed at that, "Actually it depends on how much chakra you put on it, though to be safe I put a limiter symbol on it so that it gets sticky enough to trap people in that small range and last longer." He informed them, "It's not an elemental seal anyway, it's..."

"…a stronger version of the tree climbing exercise on a seal?" The old kage muttered in an amused tone. "So much room for improvement, especially since... The ground looks the same after you applied the seal on it, so unless you have a doujutsu to see chakra, you can't tell there's a trap."

Aizen nodded in agreement, "This seal works instantaneously the moment it touches the ground, you don't have to stick it, and it's reusable too." He eyed the tag, "Most of us instinctively move with a chakra boost, thus any body parts where chakra is focused would stick to this like magnet."

The blond boy nodded, "I recommend it for trap use... but it needs a lot of chakra to last more than few minutes. But it won't be a problem once someone is trapped in its range... the seal would be powered by the captive's chakra." Naruto informed them, "Speaking of the poor range, I can provide you one with wider range but you need more chakra to make it sticky and last longer until it catches your opponent." He muttered as he rummaged through his backpack, "And here is the last one I have for today." He muttered and pulled out a flash tag. "This one is a flash bomb, but it can last more than five minutes and comes in seven colors. Eh... no." He shook his head at the look Sandaime shot him. "It's not for pranking."

"..."

"..."

"We have to use sunglasses to use it for sure." Shisui quipped with a grin, he was referring to doujutsu users in general. "And a warning that it's not to be used in anywhere near the Uchiha and Hyuuga compounds."

"I concur." Itachi drawled.

Sarutobi smiled at that, it seemed Naruto was still a prankster at heart. "I will get my ANBU and Oinin to test it. If it works effectively, I would want that for them."

Naruto wisely didn't ask how they're going to use it, he just hoped he would never find out if any missing Nin that ends up blind because of it. "Of course Hokage-sama." He bowed in respect, earning a sad look from Sandaime that disappeared the moment he raised his head.

Sarutobi cleared his throat, "Aizen has voiced his interest in your talent, and I have seen it myself... what you could do with modifying basic seals and simple concepts such as the tree climbing exercise." He pulled a red scroll with golden trimming and the Konoha symbol and handed it to Naruto. "You deserve it Naruto-kun." He said cordially as Naruto accepted the scroll with awe and thinly veiled nervousness. "Congratulations, you passed with flying colors."

The blond jinchuuriki held the scroll with trembling hands, while he was confident of his skills he was still in disbelief that he at last gained the acknowledgement he longed for. "Thank you Hokage-sama." He bowed in respect to the old kage then turned to Aizen. "It's an honor to learn your art Aizen-san, I will do my best as your student."

Aizen smiled genially, "I am looking forward to it Naruto-kun, and call me Shishou from now on... "

"Hai Shishou." Naruto obeyed readily.

_**'Naruto...'**_Kurama called from the depths of his mind.

_'Yes, Kurama?' _His bijuu would rarely be the first to attempt a conversation.

_**'I don't trust this man at all...' **_Kurama growled.

_'I see...'_ Naruto chuckled inwardly, _'I will be careful, I promise.'_ He glanced to his back, where he could see Itachi's eyes had narrowed at Aizen only to gaze back to him. He smiled reassuringly to Itachi then nodded. _'You're not the only one my friend...'_

_**'Bah!'**_Kurama snorted in disgust.

March 7th, seven years after Yondaime's death. Uzumaki Naruto graduated from the academy to be apprenticed under Aizen Sousuke, which marked as a significant turning point in his life.

* * *

**Graduating at 7! How epic, or so I thought. I hope his character is believable, Naruto tried to act mature though he is very much a child underneath that. He didn't hate Sandaime but will hardly trust the hokage.**

**For those who wanted Jiraiya, I am SO SORRY but I can't have him to drop by so fast... He WILL teach Naruto one day, I promise! So Jiraiya's fans don't be disappointed! Aizen is imported from Bleach, and yeah... I am sure everyone can foresee where's this going~ AND NO there's will be no Bleach element here, I just borrowed Aizen since he would fit in there. AND I guess you would know I will get this guy out SOON!**

**I hope you like Naruto's interaction with Itachi, and he is a very important character in this story... as both of them care a lot about their ancestor legacy. I just can imagine both of them going to an excavation mission together and Shisui tagging along while complaining.**  
**I don't really get what kind of man Shisui is in canon but I think he is kind of like canon Naruto but much calmer. At least I thought so!**

**About teams**, **that's already decided... and to be honest I don't hate any character in Naruto though some of them annoy me.**

**PS: Naruto won't address Itachi as his senpai forever~**


	5. 5th Legacy

**Don't ask why I update so fast, it's just happened! XDDD At any rate... this is like a chapter about Naruto's somewhat peaceful day, living with his fellow seal master and go training with Itachi and Shisui, hence why this chapter titled ****Halcyon Days. **

**Maw... while I paint Uchiha clan in positive light, it doesn't mean Naruto could make their problem go away. Naruto at this point is still a nobody, at least in politics. From what I see in canon Uchiha is arrogant and proud, which by right not something I would make fun of. In recent chapters it revealed Senju (Hashirama excluded) is not better than Uchiha when it comes to pride, both clans are proud of their heritage which was why they fought in the first place.  
**

**I won't say it's right for Uchiha to rebel, it's neither right or wrong just stupidly desperate. They're a proud clan and ostracizing them is like asking for a time bomb to explode. So yeah, kudos to you Orochimaru, to point it out to Niidaime.  
**

**For Naruto's new clothes, it's the same one Sarutobi Sasuke from Samurai Deeper Kyo wear but orange one. I see nothing wrong with the kill-me-orange if Naruto can survive wearing it, he is a bad ass. The new cover is Naruto's clothes when we reach canon start (rookie 9 graduation time line) Which pretty much orange-dark blue version of Tokito of **** Samurai Deeper Kyo wear with a touch of Kushina's old clothes when she was a genin. **

******Sorry, if anyone confused Itachi pulled a shinai, I discarded that idea and forgot to erase that one. He pulled a tag not a shinai, my bad! **

******NOT YAOI, though I have to say... yaoi fans are free to take anything as hint like in canon. So yeah, feel free to interpret it. **

* * *

**5th Legacy: Halcyon Days **

_**"You shall**** not** make an Uzumaki repeat themselves for the third time when it comes to fuuinjutsu. You nod, shut up, and do as they said before they tear you a new mouth for back talking them in their expertise."_

Seal Masters when dealing with an Uzumaki

Aizen was a pleasant person; at least he painted himself as such. Naruto didn't know why but he, Kurama, and Itachi were instantly wary of the man. In spite of that, he didn't voice a word of protest, when Aizen asked him to move to Fuuin Division Dormitory. It was just reasonable that a teacher would want his disciple to be contactable any time, and devoted most of their time in their study. Naruto didn't have that much attachment to his old apartment anyway, at the very least the new place won't be devoid of life.

And oh boy… how wrong he was.

The dormitory was located in a tower, on the west side of North forest; apparently it was pretty close to the city. The dormitory room or rather an apartment looked pretty much the same as his old apartment; and insultingly larger with queen size bedroom, the bathroom and kitchen were inside too. The difference was, it looked so bare and needed personal touch.

"How do you like it Naruto-kun?" Aizen asked as he led the blond boy to explore his new home.

Naruto bobbed his head, "I like it! It's bigger than my old place!" Which mean it would feel _emptier_ too with only him. "But… I always thought a dormitory room supposes to be small!"

"Not when it's for the Division Leader." Aizen informed him.

"Oh." Naruto paused than stared at the older seal master in shock. "Oh, I thought I am going to live alone, so this is your place Shisou?"

Aizen shook his head, "I have my own house… it's ten minutes walk from the our tower, I would love to let you live in my home…" The haori clad Shinobi sighed, "But higher ups insist that you've to live here."

Apparently he was not the only cautious one of Aizen, which made him wonder why they let Aizen to keep his position at all. He had not heard of Aizen clan, which meant the clan was minor so it was no reason to fear political backlash or anything alike. Unless upper echelon of their village still trusted the man, and they wanted Naruto to be where they could keep their eyes on. It annoyed him, most of his life had been trailed by ANBU. How much monitoring they needed?!

Naruto nodded, "But I am not sure I should have this place…"

"Nonsense." Aizen drawled, "You're used to have a place with bathroom and kitchen Naruto-kun, so Hokage-sama deemed it prudent you deserve the same luxury even in dormitory. This place is never used by me, it's better be in use than gathering dust."

The blond boy smiled at that, "I promise I will take a good care of this place Shisou!" He beamed. "And by the way! Can I paint it orange?" He asked cheerfully.

Aizen sweat-dropped at him, "Eh… this is not private property Naruto-kun though I think you could pick a more neutral color… a very pale orange maybe? I will ask permission from Hokage-sama for you!"

"Really Shisou?!" Naruto beamed at the offer, "Thank you!" He thanked his master. Aizen just smiled as he bid Naruto good bye and left the boy to attend his business in his office. Naruto waved at retreating Aizen cheerily. "See you around Shisou!" As soon as Aizen was out of his sight he closed the door and his eyes narrowed.

**_'That man is full of bullshit!' _** Kurama growled. **_'Ask Hokage-sama for you?! You could ask that old man yourself! He sounds like he is going to do a favor for you!' _**

Naruto sighed as he began to unload books from the box. _'Well… kids normally won't notice when adult is bullshitting them. And he seems to be set on making me fond of him.' _

The demon fox snorted, **_'On his dream~ But still, do you think this is a wise decision? Haven't you learned that naiveté could get you killed?' _**

The blond boy clenched his teeth; his finger pushed the book to straighten the row. _'Hiragi-jiichan... the man who changed my life, in spite of everything I owe him. I can't hate him, not when he gave up his life research for me… I don't know what he was thinking but should I care?'_ He wondered in somber tone. _'To us seal master… what he has given to me is like a Shinobi giving up both of his hands.' _

**_'Can't argue with you there, but still! We were so lucky he didn't mess you up!'_**

_'Hai… but you know Hiragi-jiichan is probably not in this world anymore, regardless of his original intention to me is good or bad.'_ Kurama had told him that the man had received a full blast of exposure to Kurama's demonic chakra. A normal human would have went mad and committed suicide or died in instant. _'I owe him, that's all in it. As far as I concerned… he probably…' _Naruto trailed off as he put the last book on the shelves. _'The only human who ever gave me something without nothing on him in return.'_

Hokage's kindness to him might be out of genuine love to him like a grandfather would their grandson, but in the same time it was also a duty. He was the jinchuuriki of Konoha after all. Even this opportunity to further his study was partly for Konoha. Tori cared about him but the ANBU's protection was a duty too…

And Itachi… he was not sure but when it comes to the older boy he could safely say their friendship based on their understanding of each other's standing. Itachi was the prodigy who shouldered his clan's pride on his young shoulder, while he was aware of how his clan slowly descended to the path of no return. While Naruto was a sacrifice for the village and betrayed by them, ironically it was after they knew what he had done for them.

They were both aware of how foolish human could be once consumed by hatred.

Sometimes Naruto wondered if he was indeed a prodigy, a genius as they called him. If what it takes to be a genius was to know why everyone else was idiot, it was both a curse and blessing. A blessing to know you're not an idiot and a curse to know you're living among idiots.

He wisely discarded the thought, because it seemed Itachi was rubbing off on him.

* * *

**Uchiha Compound**

Uchiha Sasuke could shamelessly admit he loved his big brother more than he did his parents. It was ironic that while the whole clan pressured him to be as good as Itachi, his big brother was the one who protected him from the said pressure. It was really stressful for a young boy like Sasuke to live under the shadow of such a talented older brother, and he sought comfort from his brother and mother whenever he could. His brother was always busy since he started working as an ANBU, so every second he could get from Itachi was precious. He went home in hurry because it was the day Itachi promised to let Sasuke watching his training with kunai and shuriken. Much to his disappointment Itachi was not home yet.

"Kaa-san!" Sasuke called his mother who was busy unloading her groceries from plastic bag. "Where's nii-san?" He asked impatiently as he pulled one of the chair and pushed himself up to sit.

Mikoto paused her work, "Oh, he went to Munechika-san's place… he should be back soon. He has been away for two hours, it shouldn't take so long…"

Sasuke blinked owlishly as he processed what his mother said, "Munechika-san? I thought nii-san just restocked his weapon supply last week?" Itachi was always took a good care of his weapons, so usually it lasted longer. It didn't make sense his brother needed to buy anything from the blacksmith.

The Uchiha matriarch titled her head to the side thoughtfully, "Well… apparently when he restocked his weaponry last week he also ordered something from Munechika-san and he went to pick it up today." She explained as she finished putting the groceries on their fridge.

"Oh." Sasuke hummed excitedly, "Did nii-san ordered some cool weapons?" He asked childishly.

"I did not."

Sasuke almost jumped on his seat then turned around to face his big brother. Itachi looked pretty amused by his reaction, judging from small smiled on his lips. "Nii-san! You startled me!"

Itachi shrugged, "Tadaima… kaa-san, Sasuke…" He poked Sasuke on the forehead as he walked pass, earning a pout from his little brother. "More vigilant next time." Itachi lifted his right hand; holding up a plastic bag. "Uruchi-baasan gave me some anpan and curry bread from their bakery."

Mikoto smiled at that, she mentally noted to thank the old couple the next time she saw them. "That's very nice of them."

Sasuke turned to his brother, "So what did you get from Munechika-san, nii-san?" He asked curiously.

"You will see it later." Itachi promised with a glint on his eyes.

* * *

Sasuka watched in awe as his brother showed him a custom made shuriken, which just poofed out from a storage scroll. Unlike normal shuriken the tips were tapered to a diamond shaped hole, runes carved on its metallic body with an elegantly written 炎 for hono on the center. The next projectile Itachi set beside the custom made shuriken was… a slip of paper?

Itachi chuckled amusedly at Sasuke's confusion, "Let's see these in action shall we?" He said as he led Sasuke to the nearest clearing.

The younger brother looked confused when Itachi took out a wooden dummy out of the scroll. Unlike one he saw in training ground this one was not made of hay but wood, which make it looked like a puppet. He had seen something alike in bookstore, one that used as model for painter to draw human. This one was big, a head taller than Sasuke. Itachi placed a tag on its head, the tag also had difficult looking rune with 息 for 'breath' in the center.

Sasuke couldn't help but gaped when he saw the five feet wooden dummy suddenly came alive and looked like it was running for its life from them. The way it moved was awkward and frantic, and looked more like bouncing instead of running. After it reached certain distance from them it was running in circle around the training ground like a headless chicken. Sasuke was really disturbed by how creepy it looked.

"I am not sure that's on purpose." Itachi was apparently wasn't disturbed by its frantic bouncing, even when Sasuke flinched at the puppet's head 180 degrees turn.

"Nii-san." Sasuke almost whimpered, "It's dancing."

Itachi only raised an eyebrow when the puppet started dancing ballet, and it was horrendous. Then again the puppet was no Billy Elliot. Sasuke_ really_ started to whimper when the said puppet jumped in the air with its hands stretched out like it was trying to fly. "If this is his idea of joke, it's really a poor taste." Itachi craned his neck, "But it seems to be a workable puppet for practice dummy."

The Uchiha prodigy stepped forward before he dived to a full sprint towards his target. From the corner of his eyes he saw his father approached Sasuke, Fugaku had came to watch his training it seemed. He paid the spectators no mind as he threw the custom made shuriken to the puppet. Fire came alive and encased the shuriken; it looked like a disc of fire cutting through the puppet dodged the coming fiery projectile with jumping high to the air, the legs disturbingly parted in 180 degrees in the mid-air. However it wasn't fast enough when it jumped so the tip of its feet were torched. Itachi didn't even pause when the puppet landed on it's burning feet and started to spin around.

"Shuriken encased in fire." Fugaku murmured, ignoring his youngest son who at some point had clung to his pants. He couldn't blame Sasuke, the dancing puppet was a pretty disturbing sight for a child. "It's like... a more advanced version of our Housenka no Jutsu." Itachi started to corner the puppet with a fire of wall, dodging spinning kick from the burning wooden feet in the process. "Interesting."

Sasuke gulped, "Nii-san is so fast! But how that shuriken can sprout fire even though Nii-san didn't burn them?" He asked curiously.

"Fuuinjutsu..." Fugaku answered in solemn tone. "The shuriken is imbued with Itachi's fire natured chakra while the rune functioned to shape and manipulate it to produce the same effect as Housenka no Jutsu." Shisui had told him about the Minato's son and the latest achievement of the budding prodigy of seal master, the boy was truly their son.

"Oh..."

Fugaku really hoped they could have adopted Minato's son, but that would be soundly rejected by Sandaime and his cronies. He also didn't want to add oil to the fire, considering their position now. While it was true sharingan was probably the only thing left in the world that could control Kyuubi, everyone seemed to _conveniently_ forgot his family's relationship with Yondaime's. He would sooner cut his own hand than letting his clan to harm Minato's family. The village could accuse Uchiha all they wanted, and _conveniently_ forgot that Mikoto was Kushina's best friend and he was Minato's childhood friend _and _second cousin. The latter was not even a public secret, while it was not well known.

One of his mother's cousin married a Namikaze and had Minato. Minato's mother had recessive gene of Uchiha and Namikaze was actually an offshoot of Senju, which was why Minato looked nothing like an Uchiha save the sharp shape of his eyes which was not that noticeable in the first place. Uzumaki Naruto was also very unlikely to develop Sharingan considering Minato married an Uzumaki, a family line which was another offshoot of Senju, diluting the Uchiha blood even further. Aside of the blood relationship, they also forgot how crushed Minato was when Obito was killed, and how Minato had kneeled in front of him to apologize for his nephew's death. Hatake Kakashi was still alive and breathing was also thanks to Minato. The clan was furious about Kakashi's sharingan, but they honored Obito's last wish.

Not to mention Minato didn't need their petty anger on Kakashi while he already had enough on his plate. Even in politic standpoint, without their blood relation thrown in the mix, it didn't make sense for Uchiha to want Minato dead. Minato was the only Hokage after Shodaime who treated them fairly. Fugaku suspected all relationships his family had with Yondaime's was hushed out by Sandaime and his teammates. His blood relation was probably hushed out the moment Minato took his hokage mantle. None of them noticed that time because war just ended and Konoha experienced the worst economic crisis since the first Great War. Minato was busy to stabilize their village and getting used to his new position, while Fugaku and police corps were busy to suppress raising criminality in Konoha's civilian populace. None of them realized what the old cronies did on their back. When he thought of it again it might be not Sandaime, the old man was too busy to grieve over his wife's and Minato's death. His teammates however...

Recalling those old fools had time to smear his clan's name in the worse moment possible made his blood boil. They could afford to hate the Jinchuuriki in their midst and one of the founding clans, sometimes Fugaku wondered if Konoha deserved Uchiha and Minato's legacy at all.

* * *

_'Fugaku! I am going to name my son, Naruto!" Minato informed him cheerfully. _

_Fugaku's left eye twitched, "What did I tell you about letting Kushina to name your child?" _

_"Not after that ramen topping of course, I named him after the main character of Jiraiya-sensei's novel. Not a smutty kind of course!" Minato informed, looked pretty offended that Fugaku thought Kushina's ramen obsession would make his beautiful wife naming their son after the food._

_The Uchiha clan head rubbed his temple, "Even better, the name is from Jiraiya-sama. He is a great shinobi but..." _

_"Oh come on! My sensei is not that bad!' Minato protested. _

_Fugaku snorted, "I arrested him three times for this week alone for peeping."_

_"Oh okay... he is bad, I admit." Minato swallowed heavily. _

_"This is why I want to speak to you initially, the third time he was caught this week,__ which was this afternoon...__ my wife and yours were in hot spring for their pregnancy excise." Fugaku growled out. _

_"..."_

_"..."_

_"Want to help me kill my ero-sensei?" Minato offered generously. _

_"Of course."_

* * *

"Tou-san?" Itachi called.

Fugaku was snapped out of his thought, his eyes drawn by Itachi's stiff stance and Sasuke who had cowered behind his brother. He had been leaking killer intent when he was lost in memory it seemed. "I am fine now Itachi, Sasuke... it's been a hard day." He narrowed his eyes at Itachi. "About your new friend Itachi..."

The older son stiffened. "Yes?"

"Cherish him Itachi..." He drawled, "As my son, you should do better than I did." That Itachi could correct his mistake, and their son's bond won't be severed by negligence like what happened between him and Minato.

Itachi was stunned by the order, and marveled if there's no hidden intention in his father's voice. "Yes father."

He couldn't give Minato's son a family, but he would be damned if he even couldn't give a friend to Naruto.

* * *

Once he was apprenticed, he was given a new place to call a technical home and a new set of clothes. It was not a shirt or pants he usually wore, but some sort of double layered kimono which only as long as a normal shirt, the sleeve was long but not wider than normal sleeve like kimono. The outer kimono like shirt was white with one thick orange stripe on chest part while the inner was orange. The pants was short and came in darker shade of orange.

Instead of standard ninja shoes he was given a pair of black jika-tabi (traditional Japanese socks). The footwear, felt awkward at first but it was comfortable and he really liked the traditional sock though not the geta since it was too noisy. He liked the softness of their soles. This gave him tactile contact with the ground and lets him used his feet more agilely than rigid-soled shoes. He could use it in practice once he learned how to create durability seal for cloth.

Kurama generously informed him that it looked exactly like clothes Uzumaki Mito gave to her son. Which not surprising since it came from Uzushiogakure, and must had a preservation seal sewn on it. Naruto was not sure what to think when Hokage gave him the clothe,s but didn't say anything about it other than it was a gift. He sometimes wondered how undeserving he was, that not even a drop of information about his legacy was given to him. He didn't ask for much, a few sentences about Uzumaki clan he could find himself in library would be good enough. He wondered why he kept hoping that one day jii-chan would _indulge_ him at least a little about his legacy, to assure him he was not an unwanted trash nobody wanted.

* * *

"Scrolls! Books! Lots of it!" Shisui shook his head as he eyed Naruto's shelves in distaste. "No wonder majority of Shinobi population thinks you guys from Fuuin Division are scholars and not ninja!"

Naruto wondered why Itachi thought bringing Shisui to his place was a good idea. "Shisui." The older boy insisted he dropped the honorific with a promise Shisui wouldn't call him Naruto-chan anymore. "Put that scroll back, and here I thought Uchiha are clans who value brain over brawl."

Shisui raised an eyebrow, "So we're smart naturally, but so you know I don't read scrolls to study jutsu! We have instructor and sharingan for that!"

"I think Naruto-kun is talking about how our Sharingan helps our fighting style to be efficient, which involves strategic thinking instead of brute force." Itachi joined in after he took another sip of his green tea.

The shusin expert scoffed, "My best record when fighting an enemy ninja is with shunshin-ing right on my enemy's blind spot and roasted him with a katon. Just three minutes! Like cup noodle!" He boasted proudly.

"Did you just tell me that…" Naruto trailed off, "Setting your enemy on fire is more effective than your prized doujutsu?" Naruto asked incredulously.

He huffed, "We're pyromaniac at heart." Shisui declared proudly. "Sharingan tend to make you over-thinking in battle, while the simplest solution bring faster result."

"Which mean while Sharingan helps us to predict and counter nin, gen and tai, it's not efficient without enough brain to back it up so Shisui resort is prone to shunsin and roast anything in his path." Itachi explained in deadpan tone.

Shisui glared at his least favorite cousin, "OI!"

Naruto nodded sagely, "I see…"

"No you _did_ not." The older Uchiha growled.

Itachi sighed, "By the way Naruto-kun, I tested the nenshou-shuriken (burning throwing star) yesterday with that puppet seal you gave me."

Naruto's eyes lightened up at that, "Oh! How is it? Did both work properly?"

"I guess the nenshou-shuriken works well, as for your puppet seal." The Uchiha prodigy titled his head to the side, "Define properly."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at his fellow prodigy, "Huh?"

* * *

Twenty minutes later in the nearest training ground Naruto and Shisui watched in horror as the puppet executed 32 fouettés en tournant before it bounced like a rabbit in heat. Aizen who was watching beside Naruto clapped cheerily. Itachi looked indifferent by the puppet, though if you watched closely you could see his left eyebrow twitched by 2 millimeters. Shisui regretted drawing Maito Gai's face on it, while it was creepy enough when the puppet's face was blank, the thick eyebrow, the eyelashes and the wide smile made the show looked straight from the worse realm of insanity. It was pretty funny at first, Shisui conceded, but now it was just plain creepy and disturbing.

The spell of silence hung heavily in the air save Aizen's clapping, it was Shisui who found his voice first. "No wonder little Sasuke is traumatized." He murmured, "Naruto, even I... have to admit it's not funny." Uchiha Shisui told him, in a voice that suggested his brain was broken.

Naruto gaped like a goldfish at them and for a moment of broken-minded-ness they stared at each other,"But... I didn't mean it to do that! That..." He stammered, "I was just trying to modify standard puppet seal Ryuudouin clan used! So it could move more fluidly and not so stiff like one the original clan used on training post!" He growled testily.

Aizen smiled at his disciple, he looked bemused by the whole ordeal. "The puppet did move fluidly now Naruto-kun." He beamed.

"Not that kind of fluid!" Naruto exclaimed in horror, he was about to correct his teacher but lost control of his jaw when he saw it. The moment the puppet jumped and doing a full leg splits in mid-air, which put too much strain on its hip joint and it's left leg fell out. The puppet landed on its right leg and started to spin again, while its left leg went flying and stuck on the wall, missing Naruto's cheek by one inch. Naruto regained his control as he put his jaw back up. He grabbed the stray leg then threw the leg to to the puppet with deadly accuracy. The puppet was struck by its own leg on chest part and was sent sprawling to the ground. Naruto then turned his attention at the two dumbfounded Uchiha beside him. "Itachi, Shisui." The two Uchihas turned to their attention to the Uzumaki. "Burn it." He ordered in commanding tone, it was not a request.

Itachi and Shisui didn't know why but for a moment they fear for their life of what Naruto would do if they didn't do as he said. It was Aizen who interrupted their train of thought, "Naruto-kun! Don't be so hasty, it's not that bad!"

Naruto was not convinced, "Burn it,dattebayo." He repeated icily, his blue eyes never left the abomination.

Aizen was quickly reminded of one thing his late teacher who was lucky enough to know Mito-sama had warned him about Uzumaki. There was one warning all seal masters who had ever known an Uzumaki personally would always say. You shall**_ not_** make an Uzumaki repeat themselves for the_ third_ time when it comes to fuuinjutsu, you nod, shut up, and do as they said before they tear you a new mouth for back talking them in their expertise.

"Itachi-kun! Shisui-kun! Quick!" Aizen pressed the two Uchihas on. "Burn it! Do as Naruto-kun said!"

Itachi and Shisui decided that they didn't want to know why Aizen suddenly started singing different tune so they went to the puppet in record time and turned it to firewood with **Goukakyu no Jutsu**. Naruto trotted to the fire and threw all identical seal with one on the puppet he had on his person to the fire. Itachi and Shisui looked at the Uzumaki in bewilderment then to the burning puppet and tags. Naruto smiled eerily at the occupant of the training ground, a smile that was known as Uzumaki's trademark smile that said as a sign for flee on sight in the first Great Shinobi war when an Uzumaki was pissed. Especially when the verbal tic came out from their mouth. He had been pretty confused why Naruto didn't have Uzumaki main family's verbal tic, a tic they spouted when being emotional. Uzumakis usually were very emotional when they were young, most calmed down when they reached adulthood and the verbal tic came out only when they were pissed off or excited. They were known natural disaster when pissed even without bijuu.

"We never see this." He decided in resolute voice. "We didn't see anything, dattebayo." He chirped cheerfully.

_He decided to just pretend that the abomination never exist?! _The thought in disbelief. But of course no one dared to protest, "Of course Naruto-kun!" Aizen agreed readily, and Shisui wondered why Sandaime assigned a man without a backbone to tutor a freaking Uzumaki.

* * *

Actually Shisui worried about nothing, as when it comes to Fuuinjutsu, Aizen was a competent teacher. "So this symbol represents propagation." Aizen muttered as he expertly finished the last stroke for 雲(kumo) on the scroll. Aizen's writing was smoother and somewhat had a slight overt flourishes. Unlike Naruto's writing, which was simple, written as precisely as he could and sometimes sloppy because of inexperience. "And this is symbol of tranquility which represented by 雨(ame) rain... blessed shower from the sky."

Naruto nodded as he copied the alphabet to his scroll, "Hm... why the first layer high level seal that direct chakra used weather? I always wonder why..." All seal Naruto had created so far was simpler in nature, while creative the level was only C or D. Aizen had evaluated his skill, and decided it was time to teach Naruto components for higher ranked seal. Naruto had a very strong basic skill, but his experience was limited to lower rank seal like explosion tag and flash tag.

Aizen tapped his finger, "Because high level seal is very volatile most of the time, and while sometimes an unstable seal works it's better to be stable. And for that... we need harmony which is what weather symbol were part of. The nature itself is the personification of harmony... earth." Aizen lowered his hand as his right palm faced the ground. "And the sky." His left palm was upward, facing the ceiling of their study room.

Azure eyes trailed up and down, absorbing knowledge his teacher gave him like sponge. "Harmony... "

Aizen nodded, "Hai... our world is made of harmony of sky and earth." He cleared his throat, "It's said that The sage of sixth path's greatest technique used the concept of yin and yang... in which he created the world we live in."

"So... he is a god?" Naruto asked curiously, ignoring Kurama's mental snicker because Naruto knew the answer.

"Close." Aizen corrected, "It's not like he created the world from scratch, more like creating the order for the new world with knowledge about chakra."

**_'A gift human foolishly abuse with slaughter throughout the century.' _**_Kurama growled out, **'Old man would have turning on his grave if he had one.'** _A wise decision in his part, Kurama thought.

_'Unfortunately I can't argue with that.' _Naruto thought forlornly. Maybe one day human could escape from this loop? Who knows?

"Uzumaki-sama." Naruto turned his head to the side, a boy who was Shisui's age was holding a tray of snack and steaming tea. "You and Aizen-taichou have been studying for hours. I presume you would like a refreshment." He had short pale sandy blond hair and greyish blue eyes. His skin was fair, and he had a distinct short eyebrow that almost resemble short tip of brush. He was wearing a dark grey kimono that parted until his chest, his chest and abdomen were wrapped in bandage.

"Ah... Tokusa-kun." Aizen called and from the corner of his eyes Naruto could tell the slight twitch on his master's eye voiced displeasure that Tokusa had clearly put Aizen was below Naruto in status.

Naruto always felt nervous whenever Tokusa or anyone from the boy's clan, the Shiomitsus were with him when Aizen was in vicinity. Tokusa was part of a seal master clan who specialize in weaponized application, meaning they used seals to enhance weapon thus they were also a clan of blacksmith. Shiomitsu clan by any means was not hostile in fact Naruto was pretty unnerved when he was introduced to the rest of the tower member, Shiomitsu clans looked very close to prostrate themselves on the floor on the sight of him. Naruto's paranoia came back three folds when he realized that for unknown reason he was stuck in some sort of political struggle in the tower, between Tokusa's clan and Aizen's subordinates.

At first he thought he could just mind his business and let them sort the problem themselves. But NO, for some reason their problem centered on him. Shiomitsu clan had unofficially assigned Tokusa to be Naruto's retainer, and how insistent they were leave no room for argument. The next thing Naruto knew, both side never leave him alone with someone from their opposition. If Naruto was studying with Aizen, Tokusa would somehow there to study on his own of bringing refreshment. While it didn't bother him that much, he was not used to be the center of attention, especially when Aizen and Tokuse discreetly glaring at each other.

Aizen might be the head of the tower, but apparently he didn't have complete control over everyone especially Shiomitsu clan. Naruto guessed it was like Senju-Uchiha thing, since from what read in record clans and families that involved in tower were always the same from generation to generation since Uzumaki Mito's founding of the division. He just hoped it was not centered on him for whatever wacky reason they had other than he was related to their founder, and it won't end up anywhere as badly as Senju-Uchiha one.

"Uzumaki-sama!" Tokusa chirped.

Naruto paused in mid of stirring his tea, "Ah yes, Tokusa? What is it?" He had learned to speak very carefully when these two were in the same room. Especially when Aizen had his katana with him, and Tokusa had his glove on his belt. No fight broke yet, but it was clear with them carrying it around they were not above using it.

"Hakurei-shisou found the reference scroll you wanted." He informed the blond boy excitedly, "There's a couple of interesting scrolls in our family achieve we think would help in your next project too."

Naruto beamed at that, "Ah I see... then."

Aizen chose that moment to cut in, "There's sample of grade A ink arrive recently, we should try it. And I am sure in my family achieve we have better reference scroll."

_Oh, shit._

"Eeh... " Naruto started to sweat under their intense gaze. Aizen seemed like he didn't realize his pleasant mentor mask was slipping whenever a Shiomitsu was in vicinity. "Tomorrow morning I have a training session with Itachi and Shisui." Naruto didn't miss the flinch on Tokusa's face when he mentioned his Uchiha friends. It seemed Shiomitsu clan didn't like Uchiha, and Shisui almost kidnapped him so Tokusa won't follow them to training ground. Naruto had to beg for Tokuza to leave hm with the Uchihas, and assured the boy he was completely safe with Itachi and Shisui. Itachi who was the more diplomatic one of the two even offered to swear an oath of protection, which soundly refused by Naruto because Itachi had nothing to prove to his unofficial retainer. Tokusa in the end relented, but he still had a glare match with Shisui whenever the two met face to face.

"From there Tokusa's home is closer so I will go to your place first." Tokusa nodded happily, "On the way back to tower I will walk pass shishou's place, and shisou usually will be at home around six right?"

Aizen nodded, "Yes."

"I will be there then." Naruto caught Tokusa looked at him pleadingly and he knew the teen wanted to follow him to Aizen's. Considering he would be in Tokusa's before Aizen's, and how the Shiomitsu clan was going to beg for the same thing later... "With Tokusa." He added reluctantly. Naruto closed his eyes and pretended he didn't hear the snapping sound of calligraphy brush. Yep! It was just the third brush for this week.

* * *

**The Next Day**

"You looks like a walking dead man." Shisui commented as he and Itachi walked the blond to their favorite training ground.

Naruto glared at Shisui heatedly, "I am sorry if I spent two months indoor." He drawled sardonically, and the stupid politic struggle didn't help! "Kami! My whole body feels heavy like lead! Even if other seal masters in the tower likes indoor so much, I honestly don't." After spending a few weeks with Shisui, Naruto could say there's no harm to act like himself. Shisui was too hotheaded and carefree to plot anything traitorous, and his personality made him a pleasant person to be around and a convenient target to butt head with.

Shisui lifted his hands in placating gesture, he didn't to be a target for Uzumaki's ire. He would have pity that wooden puppet if it was alive, which is why it was very lucky to be dead. "No need to be so pissy Naruto, can't you ask Aizen-dono to take your lessons outside once in a while?"

Itachi and Naruto whipped their heads at his direction so fast, that he thought their neck was going to snap.** "Are you nuts?"** They asked in disbelief.

The shushin expert raised an eyebrow, "Eh, what's wrong with my suggestion?"

"I told you I am starting on experimental seal! One I make from scratch!" Naruto informed him, "Doing it outside is like sticking an explosion tag on my face!"

The older Uchiha titled his head to the side "How come?"

Itachi face-palmed, then again he didn't expect Shisui to learn at least the basic safety procedure of Fuuinjutsu when he could. "Naruto-kun, just tell him why it's a suicidal idea."

Naruto sighed, "Hm... first of all fuuinjutsu is a very volatile art when it comes to experimenting the creation." Naruto waved his finger to emphasize his point, "When we tried to make a new seal we need a lot of preparations to make sure we have made every possible safety measures we could. Since Fuuinjutsu can be affected by a lot of things if you're not careful." He craned his neck to the side, "Especially for a disciple like me who just started." He pointed to his face, "I need to set up special barrier seal, the same one we have in chakra sterile room in the tower. It's meant to help isolate the chosen space from ambient chakra in nature so that fuuinjutsu performed in the middle isn't affected by the environment. Unlike other shinobi arts, the process of chakra molding happen outside of our body so it could be affected by nature chakra." Naruto huffed.

"Oh... so that's why," Shisui said flatly. If Naruto was to judge, he'd say his explanation didn't rate very highly on a scale of usefulness in Shisui's book.

The young seal master shook his head, "There's no way Shishou will let me to take lessons outside, especially at this time of the year."

"This time of the year?" Shisui repeated.

While Itachi's eyes lightened up in cognizance. "Ah I see... Obon is next week right?"

The curly haired Uchiha crossed his arms, "Now you lost me, why Fuuinjutsu have anything to do with ghosts visiting our house?"

"Eeh..." Naruto sweat-dropped at him, "Aren't you a pretty good sensor shinobi, Shisui?"

"Yeah?"

Itachi and Naruto looked at each other, then Itachi spoke out their query. "Don't you feel different when it's around this time of the year? Feels like it's harder to sense people chakra, and how the air feels heavy?"

Shisui looked thoughtful before he answered. "Kind of but I thought it's because the heat."

Itachi's left eye twitched, "At this time of the year nature chakra is on its peak, Konoha's nature energy become comparable even to sacred place like Myōbokuzan. It's a very dangerous time to attempt untested Fuuinjutsu outside of controlled environment." He explained in solemn tone.

"But if you're good, and you're attempting nature based seal... it's the best time of the year for you." Naruto added with a grin.

"Oh that's why..." Shisui hummed as he eyed Naruto skeptically, "But still, you have no plan to root in the tower like your fellow seal masters." Naruto nodded at that, "You need to move more... I see you manage to keep yourself from becoming stiff with stretching and light exercise, but it won't be enough to keep your body in top shape."

Itachi nodded, "I have to agree with Shisui on this Naruto-kun, can't you arrange so you can squeeze some time for taijutsu practice at least?"

Naruto groaned, "I wish I could."

"For one, you need more sun." Shisui quipped, "Do you know that the lack of exposure to sun could cause depression?"

The blond scoffed, "I don't need sun as much as I need more of me."

"... What?" Shisui drawled.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "I wish I can _'split'_ myself so I can study seals and training physical stuff in the same time." He said wishfully, and then maybe Aizen's men and Tokusa's clan would stop. He had no wish to be disputed over in the tower as bone on contention. He raised an eyebrow at the intense stare Itachi and Shisui gave him. Considering Uchiha had sharp jet black eyes, it was pretty unnerving. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Itachi and Shisui turned their attention to each other, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Shisui asked with a grin.

Itachi nodded, "Most likely."

The shushin expert grinned then turned to Naruto, Itachi looked at him with stoic face but Naruto could see there's the same strange glint in their jet black eyes. "Have you heard of Kage Bunshin, Naruto-kun?" He asked, rubbing his hands together with a grin on his face.

"Eh?"

* * *

Shisui was bristling as he watched five blond clones toddled above the water surface, three on the three and the other two were reading scrolls. "Ten! Ten at once! And he did it as easy as breathing!"

"Hn." Itachi nodded.

"I can only do two! And that will leave me winded for the rest of the day!" He ranted in frustrated tone.

Itachi shrugged, "Hn."

Shisui gave his cousin a side glance, "He didn't even use his tenant right? I can't feel demon chakra at all, he is a natural chakra power house even without it."

"Hn."

"Natural for an Uzumaki I guess." Shisui added tiredly. "I wish I have that much chakra to throw around."

"You know..." The real Uzumaki called them from his perch on the tree, "I can't hear your conversation from here, but I can tell Itachi only said 'Hn' to you in response and yet you converse as if he gave you a complete sentence!" He pointed out with dumbfounded face, "I thought 'hn' is some sort of stock response you guys give whenever you don't have anything else to say."

Shisui snorted, "There's a broad meaning in the _hn _of Uchiha."

Itachi rolled his eyes, as he walked closer to Naruto while Shisui continued his postponed reading of the fire jutsu scroll on his lap. "Basically what you said, I didn't feel like replying Shisui." The Uchiha prodigy said. "It's a habit that plagued Uchiha like a curse."

Naruto rolled his eyes then whispered, tapping his belly discreetly. "Apparently the curse have been for generations since the genesis of shinobi world. I don't think it's genetic like Uzumaki verbal tic, but more like kids miming their parent kind of thing so..." He took a deep breath, "If I ever grunt like you do in your vicinity, please whack me on the head as hard as you can. Because my tenant don't want me to pick up any Uchiha's habit _at all_ and you know how racist he was."

Itachi nodded, "At any rate... about kage bunshin's memory advantage, if you..."

"I know." Naruto cut him off. "It's about my psychological age, isn't it?"

The Uchiha nodded again, it seemed after they showed him how to do Kage Bunshin a day before Naruto had researched the jutsu himself. Naruto had a paranoia of a seasoned ANBU, cautious and alert to his surrounding even in his sleep. Itachi acknowledge that as part of physiology wound, the years of negligence had brought upon the young jinchuuriki. Kage Bunshin at first seemed to be an innocent solution to Naruto's problem, it was not until Shisui finished showing Naruto the hand seal that the consequences crashed on his mind. Kage Bunshin's memory would be transferred to the user, which making it an excellent espionage tool when used right, and free risk aside from chakra drain. However when a chakra power house like Naruto used it, there's no way Naruto wouldn't abuse the technique. It was not a wrong thing to do though, since it was like saying abusing sharingan's copy ability as wrong. Naruto however had matured psychologically beyond his age, Kage Bunshin would make the maturing process faster. Naruto still had childish tendency once in a while, but at this rate Naruto would lose that little innocence he had left.

Itachi always saw Naruto as a friend, and painfully aware it was not as a younger friend but someone equal. It won't be a bad thing per se, if Naruto was already wearing a headband and older. Naruto was the same age as Sasuke, but after their first meeting that simple fact never cross Itachi's mind. At one point Itachi forgot this boy was four years younger than him like Sasuke was, and _not_ fellow shinobi his age.

And yet...

"Oi Itachi!"

He was snapped out of his thought when he felt a fist drilling to his left temple playfully, Naruto was hanging from a branch upside down with his fist on Itachi's temple. "What are you doing?"

Naruto sighed, crossing his arms. "Don't overthinking it." He warned him, "You always do that. It's no wonder you have stress lines under your eyes already when you haven't even hit puberty yet."

Itachi stared at Naruto in disbelief, his younger friend always said the strangest thing out of nowhere and bluntly. "What do you know about puberty?"

Naruto tapped his chin, then looked at Shisui who was practicing his katon technique. "What's Shisui is going through for one, and no thanks to my tenant to tell me what is it and that I could find a book about it if I am curious." He shook his head, "That teach me for being too curious."

Itachi just smiled at that, "I see..."

"There's no use to cry over spilled milk." Naruto muttered as Itachi looked up at him. "In the first place..." He closed his eyes, "I have little choice when it comes to my life since the day I was born, even entering ninja academy is not my choice."

"Eh?"

Naruto smiled bitterly, "I am an orphan, there's little choices to survive... and my heritage and status are assets Konoha won't ever let go."

The very same reason he was enrolled early like Naruto to academy, brimming potential they couldn't afford to waste while the child had no say in the matter. "Ah... I see..."

"A-ah!" Naruto waved his finger warningly, "What did I say about stressing your mind over little things? One in the past nonetheless?" Naruto huffed, "We're prodigies right? That what they said at least." He grumbled under his breath, "While we do have the brainpower, it's not necessarily the wisdom to put it to good use... we still have a long future ahead. Just take it in stride, shall we?" Naruto hopped off of his perch and landed beside Itachi. "Beside... you'll be with me to face it, wouldn't you?"

His lips curved up to a small and barely noticeable smile, one Naruto had seen a couple of times which speak louder than anything. "Of course."

Naruto thought his halcyon days won't end so soon, that he was never willing to let it go.

* * *

**Shiomitsu came from archaic names _shiomitsu-tama_ 潮満珠 "tide-flowing jewel, and guess what their role is? Or where they came from originally? They're not OC, I just take them from Lemurian clan in Saint Seiya universe. Naruto needs minions damn it! **

**For those who have rage over Aizen's existence in this story, rest assured! You only need to endure him in this chapter dattebayo! **

**And before anyone ask, NO, NO sharingan for Naruto! I just want to add more reasons why the three clans Uchiha, Senju and Uzumaki are giant cluster of menace with their family feud. I myself could laugh when I summarize what happened in the valley of the end. Madara in particular deserve to be eaten by Kurama. **


	6. 6th Legacy

**This probably the best chapter I wrote, or at least I think so! And I cried when writing it like an idiot! Rewatching episode of Minato and Kushina's last moment with Naruto didn't help! I keep crying waterfall! **

**As usual, yaoi fangirls and boys… you can interpret any scene as you wish. But this fic is not yaoi damn it!**

**BTW there's an interlude which is about seal tower people and their relationship with Naruto... I should put it in previous chapter but damn... it's too troublesome!**

**UPDATE 18-03-13: erasing unnecessary scene and fixing dialogue  
**

******UPDATE 19-03-13: ****Beta-ed by Supreme Dream, there's some changes and so on but in general just trying to fix OOC-ness I spotted.  
BTW while I don't mind critiques, if you can give sign up review it would be wonderful... I am not going to bite anyone's head off over critiques, but please state your reasons... elaborate your opinion so I am not left clueless of why it sucks.  
**

* * *

**Interlude, Uzumaki Naruto in their perspective. **

**Hinamori**

Hinamori loved her kouhai. He was such a beautiful little boy with big, azure eyes and soft, blond hair. She recognized him right away as the jailor of the Kyuubi, and was thankful the poor boy was safe in the tower and away from vengeful villagers. She sometimes wondered if she would've hated the boy like a clueless civilian had she not been a seal master. However, one look at those azure eyes convinced her that she wouldn't have, no demon could have those lonely, doe eyes.

She at first thought to treat him like a little brother. After all, Naruto was an orphan; he would love to have an older sister to take care of him. That illusion shattered the moment Yuzuriha and Tokusa blatantly showed their submission to the boy and treated him like a prince. He always looked uncomfortable whenever the Shiomitsus were showering him with attention, so Hinamori always had to take the initiative and tell them to leave the poor child alone. The argument that ensued then escalated into a childish scuffle that left them wondering why they were fighting in the first place. At that point, they would begin to argue about who Naruto would rather spend time with.

It was usually ended forcefully by Naruto with him pointing out he wouldn't want to spend time either of them if they kept arguing over trivial things. The child of the group acted more mature than they did, and it left Hinamori feeling ashamed enough to call a temporary truce with the Shiomitsus. None of them had the right to spend time with Uzumaki-sama.

**Tokusa**

The Uzumaki clan had always been at the top of the seal master hierarchy, but he was not happy when his master told him the new student was an Uzumaki that had to be treated like royalty. When he first met Uzumaki Naruto, Tokusa's first impression was that the boy was a walking contradiction. He had expected someone from the Uzumaki line to be loud, brash, and obnoxious but a brilliant seal master. Sure, Uzumaki Naruto was a cheerful child, but he was reserved, polite, and always seemed to be in control of his emotions. His hair was blond and not the signature red of the Uzumaki's, and his eyes were not a steel blue but azure. The only Uzumaki trait in him was his talent for fuuinjutsu.

Tokusa spent most of his time as Naruto's retainer, regardless of whether he liked it or not, because it was his master's order. It was bearable since the boy didn't act like a pampered prince. In fact, Naruto rarely asked him for anything, and the first thing he ever did ask of him was unforgettable.

"Could you help me with this, Tokusa?" Naruto asked innocently.

Initially, he had called Tokusa his senpai, but the older boy had insisted Naruto drop the suffix. "Ah," Tokusa eyed the scroll skeptically, "of course, but… I don't think I'm good enough to help you, Uzumaki-sama."

Naruto frowned at him. "I don't know what delusions you have about me or my clan," he stated coolly, "but I'm not the almighty prodigy who doesn't need any help from my senior."

Tokusa stammered, "I didn't mean to offend…"

"You didn't offend anyone, Tokusa. Now… are you going to stand there all day or start helping me?" Naruto asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Seriously, if you don't like my company... just tell Hakurei that a job as my retainer sucks."

The older seal master looked at Naruto in disbelief. "But that's…"

Naruto sighed. "You know… I'm not used to this 'making friends' thing." He looked thoughtful as he contemplated his next words. "Maybe we should talk this over during afternoon tea?" he wondered out loud.

"Making friends?" Tokusa echoed awkwardly. "You want to be my friend, Uzumaki-sama?"

Naruto nodded. "I'm trying," he admitted sheepishly, "but it's not working well considering the first friend I made was Itachi, and he is unlike most people." He sighed wearily. "And Shisui… is Shisui," he trailed off. "So yeah… how does making friends work?" he asked sheepishly.

"Why do you want to be my friend?" Tokusa couldn't help but ask.

"Ugh… no particular reason, but maybe it's because I think I have a chance to be your friend," Naruto admitted sheepishly, and Tokusa had to wonder why he worded it that way. It sounded like, like… Tokusa flinched inwardly as he remembered the young boy's status as a jinchuuriki. Friends must be a luxury to the Uzumaki, and in spite of his new founded royal status in the tower, Naruto didn't act like a stuck up prince. "Eh… maybe it would be easier if you weren't working as a retainer or whatever Hakurei asked you to be."

Tokusa blinked. "But… Uzumaki-sama…"

Naruto sighed. "You know what, Tokusa? Your job sucks, and I don't know why you put up with it. So what I'm an Uzumaki and related to the founder? I'm still a beginner seal master and a kouhai to you. I don't deserve the respect you and your clan give me…" He shook his head when Tokusa was about to protest. "Until I become a great seal master that lives up to my clan's legacy… I don't deserve it. Respect is earned, not given because of my name…"

Tokusa looked into the azure eyes and saw, not deceit, but actual sincerity. His mouth opened – closed – opened again, then promptly closed. The next thing Tokusa knew, he was on the floor kneeling in front of the young child. "You have earned my respect, Uzumaki-sama! I beg you to keep me as your retainer even though I am unworthy of such a glorious position!"

Naruto backed away. "But… I thought…"

"Of course I will be your friend if you so wish!" Naruto felt relieved. "I don't mind becoming your dog either!"

Naruto face-palmed at that. "Tokusa… I think you should stop this train of…"

"I pledge my loyalty to you for the rest of my life," Tokusa vowed, looking hopefully at the jinchuuriki.

Naruto wondered how one should handle this kind of proposal and decided to take the simplest method. "Eh… thank you?" the Uzumaki tried, and judging from how Tokusa was beaming with joy, it was the correct answer... hopefully.

**Yuzuriha**

If anyone asked how Uzumaki Naruto had won her loyalty, they would laugh because it was not from girly adoration like Hinamori or the acceptance he showed Tokusa. He gained her loyalty through one, simple sentence uttered during her taijutsu practice.

She hadn't expected him to walk past the training ground with his Uchiha friends and say, "you will be a good front line seal master, Yuzuriha." He had eyed the seal arrays on her long scarf enthusiastically. "That's an amazing wind element seal."

It was a simple compliment, but one she had never received from anyone. Due to smaller chakra reserves, females tended to have less accessible chakra and weaker stamina. They were not usually suited to be on the front lines as a seal master. Yuzuriha had worked hard to perfect her physical skills and fuuinjutsu, but not even her master believed she could succeed. And yet he believed in her – had even given her a casual compliment as he walked by. Yuzuriha had spent days coming to terms with her newly found feelings. After all, it wasn't every day you realized you had a crush on a seven-year-old boy.

* * *

**6th Legacy: Shattered Dream**

**"There are many things I'd be willing to give for this village, but you and Itachi aren't it..."  
**_Uzumaki Naruto**  
**_

_Azure eyes peeked through the lens of a camera. A grin was etched onto his handsome face as he waved to the beautiful red head who sat on the sofa. "Kushina! Smile, my dear!"_

_"If I smile any wider I'll look stupid, dattebane!" Kushina huffed, pouting at her husband. "Now come over here! Hurry up, Minato!" _

_Minato grinned as he came from behind the camera and approached his wife. He knelt in front of her and placed his ear on her bulging stomach. "Oh… our boy is kicking again," he muttered fondly. _

_Kushina just smiled at him. "Are you sure you want to pose like this for the camera? If your enemies see you they will cancel that flee on sight order," she giggled. _

_The camera flashed and the picture was taken. _

_Minato looked up, grinning from ear to ear. "I don't care… right now, I just want to be your idiot husband and father of our son, not the cool and smooth Yellow Flash of Konoha." _

_Kushina laughed softly at that. "Oh, Minato… I'm afraid you're going to spoil our son rotten." _

_"I will!" Minato promised, laughing softly when he felt another kick. "I can't wait to meet you, too, my dear son…"_

_"You hear that, my little prince?" Kushina cooed as she rubbed her bulging stomach. "We will shower you with love the moment you're born..." she laughed softly. "I just hope we don't suffocate you with it."_

_That dream of a perfect, little family never came true. _

_"__Naruto… you're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering. Remember who you are! Find a goal… a dream… and don't stop trying until it comes true.  
There's… there's so much more that I want to say… to teach you…  
I want to stay with you… I love you.__"_

_"Naruto… this is your dad. Listen… to your motor-mouth mother. I second everything she's said..._"

_"We wish we could be there for you to watch you grow up… but… don't forget we'll always love you."_

Naruto opened his azure eyes, gasping for breath as he sat up. "Haa…" It hurt so much; this suffocating grief was gnawing at him. He had accepted that he was an orphan a long time ago. However, knowing his parents had loved him so much made his heart hurt whenever he was slammed back into reality.

_**"The memory is torturing you." **_Coming from Kurama, it was a statement. _**"You should stop letting it invade your dreams." **_

Naruto shook his head. _'No… no, Kurama. I want it…"_

_**"But…!" **_the fox protested.

_'Please… let me have this memory. I want to feel loved… Let me have this selfish, childish longing, please…" _Naruto begged as he hugged himself. _"I promise I will not trouble you… just let it be!'_

_**"Heh… you're still a child."**_ Despite his words, Kurama wasn't heartless enough to meddle with the memory and deprive Naruto of the only connection to his parents. The boy treasured every memory he had, so he deserved at least that much. He just hoped his vessel would stay strong. As a bijuu he could protect his vessel's mind to an extent, but he couldn't perform miracles.

This was entirely their fault, Kurama decided. The demon fox had to wonder at the wisdom of hiding so many things from the child. The only reason Kurama didn't reveal anything to Naruto about his parents was because he felt that the old Kage should take responsibility for all the secrets. It was bad enough Naruto found out about his jinchuuriki status on his own, so Kurama would be damned if the Hokage didn't regret his foolishness at all. Then again, Kurama could tell Naruto had realized who his parents were – at least the identity of his father anyway. After all, the dream had become more vivid with each passing day.

Just know it wasn't his fault if it blew up in their faces later.

* * *

"Congratulations, Naruto-kun!" The Sandaime said as he handed Naruto a headband of Konoha.

Naruto looked down at the headband, tracing the Konoha symbol inscribed on the metal surface with his fingers, and then turned to the smiling, old Kage. "Oh." Should he be happy? "Thank you, Hokage-sama." He bowed in respect then turned to his shishou and did the same.

Sandaime frowned. "You don't seem happy with your promotion, Naruto-kun," he pointed out.

The jinchuuriki stiffened. "It's just... about the genin teams…." Naruto looked up with determined eyes. "If possible, I don't want to be on a team for the time being."

"I see." He didn't question him. Sandaime could see the reason as plain as day why Naruto didn't want to be a part of a genin team. He was the youngest genin they had in their ranks now, and if he was put on a team it would be with older genin. Naruto hadn't had the best experience when dealing with those older genin, especially since his academy days of being bullied were still fresh in his mind. Being classmates was one thing, being teammates was quite another. A team was supposed be composed of shinobi you trusted, but Naruto couldn't trust so easily.

Sandaime nodded. "You can continue working in the tower, Naruto-kun."

His eyes lit up at the prospect. "I can?"

"Of course. You're already a specialist and your skills as a seal master is highly valued. Besides, Aizen would be sad to see his precious disciple leave anytime soon," the Hokage assured.

Naruto beamed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

* * *

It was no secret Naruto had somehow managed to graduate from the academy.

So when the villagers had shunned and glared at Naruto even more harshly, they had expected some type of reaction, not indifference. He didn't even show his ire through his pranks like he had in the past. It's true that his pranks were annoying, but his indifferent behavior was downright irritating. Itachi and Shisui had heard a civilian ranting about how the demon child had raised an eyebrow at him when the he glared heatedly at the jinchuuriki. Apparently, civilians who tried to voice their hatred with a glare or a muttered insult felt like they were being treated like an idiot by the jinchuuriki.

Especially after that one incident where a genin had deliberately blocked Naruto's path. The genin had glared at Naruto and told the jinchuuriki to watch where he was going. Naruto, at that time, had just spent the whole night writing a report and had been really tired. All he'd been craving for was his bed, but he'd had to deliver the report to the Hokage personally. And so Naruto had flippantly retorted that, "Only idiots stand in the middle of the sidewalk and get pissed when people walked into them. Idiots~ all of you!" And then the jinchuuriki had stormed off, leaving behind a dumbfounded genin and villagers.

The Hokage had had a mild panic attack that day when he received a report from ANBU saying that Naruto might have lost his patience and snapped. Naruto had quickly assured the Hokage that he was just tired and badly needed some sleep. When reprimanded for calling the villagers idiots, Naruto hadn't apologize at all and said, "They shouldn't be offended if it's not true." The Hokage had just sighed.

He would have said more about how insults were not the right way to deal with civilians, but Naruto had promptly passed out on the floor of his office. That ended their conversation splendidly. The Hokage had then ordered Tori and his squad to take Naruto back to the tower. It was then he realized that Naruto, for some reason, was using sarcasm to express his ire. Naruto, who woke up the next day, apologized to the Sandaime and said he wished he could say the same to the offended party. Sandaime could tell it wasn't exactly a sincere apology but one that was expressed to keep up appearances.

The old Kage didn't even realize in his relief about Naruto not snapping that the boy was growing indifferent to their opinions.

* * *

Autumn was the season of harvest where leaves in Konoha's forest changed to mirror the colors of sunset. According to the civilians, it was a season of literature, gourmet, and sports. To the shinobi population, it was just another season that forced them to adapt their camouflage techniques. Shisui, though, couldn't have cared less about half of that. He felt it was just a season of good food where he had to watch his diet to avoid overeating. He did have to keep his ideal body after all, though it wasn't for cosmetic purposes of course. So his mind failed at understanding why Itachi's little prodigy friend thought it was a good season to simply watch the leaves fall. It was not like the blond neglected his training, but at some point in the start of autumn, the boy always allowed himself or a clone to stare at the falling leaves.

He used to get how the gears in Naruto's mind worked…

But now it seemed the boy had transformed into some kind of genius, which was probably why he didn't understand the brat anymore. It was either that or the blond jinchuuriki had gone absolutely bonkers. "Naruto." This time it was the real one who watched the leaves. "Are you okay?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. "Of course I am. Why do you ask?"

"You're watching leaves fall like a Nara watching clouds," Shisui pointed out.

"I'm trying to figure out something, silly." Naruto scoffed as he watched a yellow leaf fall in front of his face. "You know… all these leaves fall to the ground in different fashions… flipping as if dancing in the air... "

Shisui blinked owlishly at the blond. "Since when you did you start speaking poetically. On second thought, you and Itachi seem to like being cryptic."

"Don't speak as though I'm not here," Itachi said to his cousin from his seat on the branch above Naruto's.

"We're ninja," Naruto replied flippantly before turning his attention back on the leaves. "Aah... it's already been half a year. Time flies so fast. It's already October."

Shisui grinned. "Speaking of October, your birthday's soon." Naruto flinched at that. "Is there anything you want? We can celebrate with cake!"

"Shisui!" Itachi hissed.

"I don't feel like celebrating when a majority of Konoha is visiting gravesites." Shisui blanched at the deadpan tone Naruto used. "Besides, the only thing I know about my parents is that their death anniversary is October 10th." Neither Uchiha could hide their flinch at the reminder. "If anything I would visit their graves, but I don't know where they are unfortunately."

Sarcasm was dripping from his voice, but both knew it was not aimed at them but at all of those who kept the information from him. Shisui didn't know anything about Naruto's parents, and while Itachi did know a bit, he had no right to give out that information. Itachi sometimes wished the Hokage hadn't resorted to such extreme measures to keep Naruto's heritage a secret. Everything had been going so well lately that they'd forgot October was anything but a pleasant month for Naruto. In fact, since October 1st, Naruto had refused to step out into the city or any other crowded area in Konoha, especially with the villagers' growing ire.

Naruto cackled at the worry evident on their faces. "I'm not going to refuse a bowl of Ichiraku ramen, and presents would be nice," he assured them. "No cake and candle blowing though."

Itachi's eyes softened at his young friend. "That's fine."

"Besides... if I refused presents, everyone in the tower would be disappointed," he said with a sigh. "They've tried to be discreet, but... the Shiomitsus in particular have been not-so-subtlety implying I'd be wonderful with a sword if I took up kenjutsu."

Shisui rubbed the back of his head. "If it's just basic kenjutsu I think we can teach you. We're no masters, but we're proficient."

"I haven't said anything about adding kenjutsu to my arsenal," Naruto pointed out. "I'm in the process of creating a fighting style that suits me, and I want to base it on what I already have."

Itachi smiled at that as he swung down from the tree and landed on his feet. "You don't have to create an entirely new fighting style... you can base it off an existing one and work on how to make it yours."

"The fighting style I know best is the Uchiha style, because you two are my main training partners." Most of the time he lost, which was why he wanted to develop a style of his own. "Though, Yuzuriha and Tokusa spar with me sometimes." Yuzuriha was Tokusa's older sister and basically looked like an older, female version of Tokusa with a ponytail. "Their fighting style involves a lot of kicks and wide attacks."

"Which is not for a midget with short limbs like you." Shisui grinned from ear to ear.

Naruto glared at the curly haired Uchiha, crossing his arms as he stood up from his seat. "How mature. A fourteen-year-old shinobi is teasing an eight-year-old about his height."

Itachi sighed, not even bothering to point out that Naruto, at some point, had grown taller and was already taller than Sasuke by a few inches if his estimations were correct. It was not surprising considering Naruto's diet. It was the healthiest menu Itachi had ever seen, especially since Naruto cooked his food himself. He had even seen Naruto drink a carton of milk in one go like it was water. It seemed Shisui's teasing about his height really bothered Naruto. Speaking of growing, there was one thing that really bothered him.

The Uchiha prodigy stared at the spiky, golden mess Naruto called hair. "Naruto-kun, I think your hair is getting a bit too long."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. "I cut it yesterday with a kunai," Of course with no mirror, "and Yuzuriha also helped. It's slightly longer than my old hair."

"It doesn't get in the way?"

"I can see just fine, and Yuzuriha said it looked good on me," Naruto chalked up his list of reasons. "And besides... who cares about hair? I don't." Actually, a majority of the population cared, because the length of his hair was disturbingly identical to the Yondaime's, especially with how the front locks framed his face.

"If you say so." Itachi mentally noted to tell the Shiomitsu that giving Naruto an identical haircut to his father was a bad idea. Though it was probably pointless since Naruto had no intentions of enduring the hair-cutting process again.

Naruto looked up to a medium sized bird flying in a circle above them; it was probably a dove in training sending a letter. One of its feathers fell from the sky, falling down gently because of its lightness. Naruto's right hand shot out and the feather landed on his palm. He could barely feel the brush of the feather it was so soft and light. When it fell from his hand, it fell slowly. Naruto turned to Shisui, who raised an eyebrow at his grin, and waited until the wind picked up, blowing in Shisui's direction.

"Shisui! Catch!" Naruto shouted as he threw an object at the shunshin expert.

Shisui's eyes widened as he jumped and attempted to catch the small rock Naruto threw at him, but it slipped past his hands. "What was that for?" Shisui asked indignantly. The genjutsu specialist clamped his mouth shut the moment he saw the glint in Naruto's eyes. It was the dreaded _eureka _glint, which involved troublesome experimenting he loathed to be a part of. The first time he'd been involved was awesome, but the second and the third time...

"Shisui~" Naruto sang cheerfully.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh no, no no no no. Whatever it is I'm not doing it! Forget it! Never! Ever! NO! That's final!"

* * *

**Three days later… **

Naruto was bouncing up and down on a trampoline; feathers he'd scattered all over the trampoline were floating in the air. Itachi and Shisui watched from the sidelines as their young friend bounced for who knows what reason. "So… can you explain what our little prodigy is thinking this time?" Shisui asked curiously. "He's been doing this for hours." Honestly, it didn't look healthy, especially since the trampoline catapulted the boy at least twelve feet into the air. That wasn't a healthy height to be in continuously, even for a ninja.

Itachi shook his head. "No," he answered curtly. "All I know is that he's trying to figure something out."

Shisui huffed, muttering, "Yesterday he asked us to practice kenjutsu with a mechanical fan and the hundreds of feathers he got from ripping pillows..."

Itachi nodded. "It's an interesting exercise." Cutting weightless, floating feathers with a sword was much harder than cutting falling leaves.

Though Itachi really did wonder if the boy was all right…

"Urgh!" Naruto guffawed.

Shisui face-palmed. "Aww shit! I bet Naruto is having the headache of the century!"

Itachi quickly caught the younger boy from midair and dragged him under the shade of a lush tree. Naruto looked awful as he rubbed his throbbing cranium. Itachi offered him a drink which was accepted gratefully. "I feel awful," Naruto admitted wearily.

Shisui groaned. "Of course you feel sick! What the hell were you thinking?"

Itachi sighed, "Shisui… lower your voice. You're not helping his headache."

Naruto nodded in agreement weakly. "Yeah… anyways, I almost got it," he grinned. "It'll be awesome—urk! Excuse me!" Naruto ran to the bush with a hand covering his mouth. He then promptly emptied the contents of his stomach.

Itachi watched Naruto wobble as he tried to stand up straight. Last month, Naruto had doubled his training regime and it was bordering unhealthy. There was obviously something besides creating a new fighting style on Naruto's mind, but Itachi wasn't sure it was wise to pry.

"Itachi…" Shisui called.

"Hn."

Shisui looked down. "Why hasn't he put on his Konoha headband since receiving it from Hokage-sama?" he asked sadly.

Itachi shook his head. "I don't know, but I don't think he wants us to ask." He knew the headband was always in Naruto's pocket, but the blond boy never deigned to wear it.

"And he didn't make a fuss over his genin status either," Shisui pointed out. "He became a genin before his eighth birthday just like you, Itachi! Genin at seven! Even a prodigy like him would be happy for that! Heck! Even you were happy!" The shunshin expert groaned. "We didn't even know he was promoted until we saw the blue cloth of his headband sticking out from his pocket!"

Itachi sighed. "It's probably nothing." Or at least he hoped it was nothing.

* * *

Tokusa and Yuzuriha had been told by the Uchiha cousins about their young master's wishes for his birthday. Although they had to agree it would be unwise to celebrate on a parent's death anniversary, Naruto's parents wouldn't have minded if their son celebrated his birthday. It's just that Naruto was really uncomfortable about it.

"Uh… Naruto-sama," Yuzuriha started, eyeing the young seal master having a tea break with them. "About your birthday…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the scarf wearing kunoichi who was sitting seiza beside her brother in front of his chair. He would never be comfortable with their tradition of 'sitting at a lower level than himself'. "You don't have to be so weary of broaching that subject with me," he assured her as he set down his cup. "And like what I told Itachi and Shisui, you can give me presents… we can eat good food and so on. I just don't want to have cake or candle blowing."

Tokusa shook his head. "But we were thinking about celebrating your birthday on October 11th instead!"

The blond seal master blinked owlishly. "A day late? Why?"

Yuzuriha fidgeted with her scarf, "Well… we thought it would be a good idea! And… it's like celebrating… uhm… the first day of your life! Eh… that didn't sound right…"

"What she meant to say was… late birthday presents aren't bad!" Tokusa rambled.

"Neither is cake! If you think a candle is childish, Naruto-sama, we can just have cake!" Yuzuriha assured him as they continued to ramble on.

Naruto raised his hands to calm them down. "Tokusa, Yuzuriha… you're rambling, calm down." They flushed a deep red, and Naruto chuckled at their reaction. "I'm sorry for being uncooperative about my birthday. I don't think it's a bad idea to celebrate it late… I don't mind the cake or candles either."

Yuzuriha and Tokusa went wide-eyed. "Really?"

There excitement was so innocent it made Naruto wonder who was older here: him or them. And this reaction was all from birthday celebrations… "Yes, of course…" he said in an amused tone as he picked up a napkin. He reached out to clean Tokusa's hair and Yuzuriha's left cheek; they both had gotten orange and white cream in their hair the moment they'd started rambling. They froze when they saw the napkin had frosting on it. "I will leave the cake to you," he assured them. Hopefully, the kitchen would stay intact until his birthday.

They stammered, blushing a deep red. "Hai! Naruto-sama!"

* * *

**October 10****th**

**Clink Clank Clink...**

**Clink Clank Clink...**

**Clink Clank Clink...**

**"SHUT UP!" **Kurama roared in the sewer mindscape.

Naruto woke up. "That dream again... full of rattling chains..." Naruto mumbled sleepily. "And Kurama is cranky… What a wonderful start to the day…"

He began his morning with a shower, some morning stretches, and inspecting what he had in his fridge. He would have to ask Tokusa or Yuzuriha to shop for him soon; he only had bread, three apples, a carton of milk, three eggs, a banana and a bowl of leftover salad from last night. His stamina was monstrous, so his body demanded a big consumption of food. He wished he could shop for himself, but he didn't want to deal with irritated vendors in October. It would sour his mood.

It looked like the menu for breakfast today would be omelets with cherry tomatoes inside, French toast, salad and stir-fried apples. Naruto ate his breakfast silently, wondering about the previous day's events. He shouldn't have asked such a thing from Itachi. He troubled the guy enough by simply being his friend. When Naruto finished his breakfast, he had planned to wash the dishes, but there was a knock on his door. Naruto dropped his eating utensils in the sink.

He climbed up the door with chakra and looked through the peephole to see his visitor. He frowned when he saw Aizen smiling, waiting patiently for a response. Naruto opened the door, titling his head to the side. "Ah, Shishou, I didn't expect a visit so early in the morning," he muttered. From the corner of his eyes he noticed Aizen's katana. That was not a good sign.

Aizen just smiled. "I wanted to congratulate my favorite disciple on his eight birthday," he said as he ruffled Naruto's golden locks fondly.

Naruto chuckled softly at that. "I am your only disciple, Shishou."

"Which gives even more reason for you to be my favorite," Aizen added with a smile. "I have a surprise for my disciple today." He leaned in conspiratorially. "It's a secret I'll only share with you."

"Oh!" Naruto put on his childish mask of excitement. "Really, Shishou?" Inwardly, Naruto flinched at how giddy he sounded. _'Ow, this doesn't sound good."_

_**"It sounds **_**so**_** promising," **_Kurama growled irately. _**"If you're going to follow this guy, go prepared at least!"**_

_'Will do!' _Naruto nodded when Aizen asked him to come along. "Uhm… can you wait for a few minutes, Shishou? I have a spar planned with Itachi later, so I need to pack up now."

Aizen frowned at that. "I guess you can… we're not going to take long though."

"Thank you!" Naruto rushed back into his room and gathered his storage scrolls, a weapon pouch, and a couple of seals he could use to defend himself.

He returned to the hallway where Aizen was waiting for him and was very surprised to find Hinamori there with him. Hinamori was Aizen's right hand woman, a very young looking female with jet black hair pulled up in a bun and equally dark eyes. Unlike Aizen who he could tell had underhanded objectives, Hinamori was very sincere and adored Naruto like an older sister.

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun," Hinamori said as she fervently kissed his cheeks and put a dark orange scarf around his neck gently. "Here is your present! It's been getting cold lately so I made this for you."

"Thank you, Hinamori-neesan," Naruto said to the older girl timidly while seething inwardly. Whatever Aizen was planning, he had a hostage ready. Damn it! "It's very warm…" He grinned cheerfully, while his left hand reached into his left pocket. He channeled a bit of chakra into the first seal he grabbed.

"Let's go, Naruto-kun," Aizen called out.

He nodded. "Let's…" As they walked, he let the seal fall from his hand discreetly. No one noticed as it was burned by a bluish chakra.

* * *

Itachi woke up with an unexplainable sense of foreboding. He was folding his blanket when Sasuke knocked on his door, and Itachi told him to come in. His brother greeted him with a 'good morning' and latched onto his arm, smiling innocently at him. He ruffled Sasuke's black locks fondly and told him to go ahead for breakfast. His little brother was about to walk away, but stopped when a weasel looking haniwa statue above his wardrobe shattered into pieces.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke called him worriedly.

Itachi recalled that the statue was some sort of joke Naruto had given to him and Shisui. He wasn't certain about the origins of it, but he suspected that one of the Shiomitsus gave it to the boy. Inside the haniwa, Naruto had engraved a seal called Kodama (echo), which was a simple seal that would emit chakra when an identical seal was activated. Naruto joked it was some sort of SOS signal, though it wasn't really useable since they didn't know how to activate the seal. Itachi mostly just kept it as a memento of their friendship.

The older Uchiha smiled at Sasuke. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but tell kaa-san I need to go now," Itachi said as he quickly put his backpack on. His supplies were always ready in case of an emergency.

"But, Nii-san!" Sasuke protested.

Before Itachi jumped from his windowsill, he said, "I'll be back soon!"

The Uchiha scion hopped from roof to roof through the Uchiha complex, and didn't even bat an eye when Shisui joined him. "Ohayo, Itachi!"

"Ohayo," Itachi returned. "So you receive the same signal?"

Shisui growled under his breath, "It's a good thing he never published that echo seal. It could only mean he's in a pretty desperate situation."

* * *

Twenty minutes later they reached the tower and found the Shiomitsus were in a panic. They couldn't find their prodigy anywhere. Itachi approached one of the Shiomitsus – Shion if he recalled correctly – who had long, pale sandy blond hair that seemed to be the dominant hair color of his clan, and was dressed in a dark blue kimono.

"Shion-san." He would have called the man by his surname, but he was not the only Shiomitsu in the vicinity. "What happened?"

Shion looked aghast as he contemplated how to tell Itachi. "Uzumaki-sama is missing… we usually wouldn't be worried since he's always somewhere in the tower, but… this morning when Tokusa went to his room… we found a number of anomalies."

"Such as?" Itachi pressed.

Shion took a deep breath. "His weapon's pouch and storage scrolls were gone." Which meant wherever Naruto went, he was expecting a battle. "His dishes were left unwashed in the sink." He was also in a hurry. "And we found a burned out seal in front of his door." Which couldn't be a good sign at all. "Aizen-dono and Hinamori-san are missing too…"

Shisui gritted his teeth. "Aizen!"

Shion paled. "He couldn't be…" The seal mastered pondered for a moment. "It's his… eight birthday. Oh! Could it be…?"

The shusin expert glared at the seal master, while Itachi stayed silent. "Explain! Why does his disappearance have anything to do with his birthday?!"

"It's… the coming of age for Uzumaki clan... " Shion muttered hesitantly, "There are some seals that could only used by by Uzumaki clan after that transition...""

"…"

"… he probably wants to use Uzumaki-sama for that…"

Shisui's sharingan flashed, "I know that bastard is up to no good!" Itachi had told him to be wary of Aizen, and Shisui trusted Itachi's judgement.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, he could predict the timeline if Naruto had finished his breakfast but he had no time to wash the dishes. Considering his daily schedule that meant Naruto went out around seven, which was a few minutes before Naruto sent his distress signal. Which meant he had been missing for almost one hour. "We should contact Sandaime-sama. We need reinforcement, something suspicious is happening here..."

"That won't be necessary," a familiar cool voice echoed. "We have sent a messenger to Hokage-sama."

Itachi turned around and was relieved to see the familiar mask of his captain. "Tori-taichou..."

Tori craned his neck to the side. "I thought we could celebrate Naruto-kun's birthday today… but here I've heard he was kidnapped. Seriously… I can't leave that boy alone for a minute." The ANBU captain slowly lost his friendly demeanor as killing intent leaked from his body. "If that bastard dares to harm Naruto, he'll pay!"

* * *

The seal tower was actually not as tall as Hokage tower, in fact it was just a three storey cylinder shaped building from outside. Why it was called a tower was simply because it underground level was twenty storey. One could say it towered towards center of earth rather than the sky. They went through a secret passage on the lowest level of the tower, one that ironically resembled the sewer of his mindscape. They arrived on a giant tree stump which was located at the end of the sewer. Naruto eyed the giant seal array carved into the wooden surface likely made by the Shodaime. He had never seen this kind of seal before, but the leftover chakra on it was calling out to him. It was a seal of the Uzumaki clan, a legacy of Uzumaki Mito. It seemed whatever Aizen wanted needed an Uzumaki…

"This is the legacy of your clan, Naruto-kun," Aizen informed, his genial smile firmly in place. "Isn't it amazing?"

Naruto forced a grin. "I can't comprehend this seal at all, but it does looks amazing," he admitted wearily.

Aizen narrowed his eyes and for the first time, Naruto knew he saw a glimpse of the real Aizen in that moment. "You can sense it, can't you… heir of the Uzumaki clan?"

Naruto couldn't help but back away when Aizen released killing intent. His eyes widened when he saw the man move. "Hinamori! Get away from him!" he shouted in panic.

Hinamori looked nervously at her superior. He had been acting very strange since he'd led them down here. "Aizen-sama… what..." She was knocked unconscious before she even knew Aizen had moved. Naruto gritted his teeth as he eyed his soon to be former mentor. Hinamori was unconscious because of some sort of hypnotic jutsu of Aizen's, but the blond boy didn't drop his guard. He watched as the man dropped the female seal master unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Shishou," Naruto tried to fake his confusion, "what did you do?"

Aizen laughed as he took off his glasses and pushed his hair back, giving him a sinister look that was the very opposite of his genial mask. "Naruto-kun… let us drop our masks, shall we?" he asked in a sardonic tone. "Both of us are undoubtedly sick of them…"

The jinchuuriki scowled at his former mentor.r, "What's the meaning of this? What do you want?"

"Very forward of you, Naruto-kun. As for the reason why… you're eight years old today. Your Uzumaki chakra should have started maturation by now…" Aizen explained with a malevolent smile. "I have to say I like this you better than the obedient and quiet prodigy persona you show on a daily basis."

Naruto scoffed. His chakra? Uzumaki chakra? "It's not really a mask… this is the disgusted face I show to scum like you Aizen!" Ha glanced at the unmoving form of Hianmori, "You used her to drag me to this place!"

Aizen shrugged. "Can you blame me? No matter how hard I tried to get you to trust me, you always put your guard up. I even got into that stupid rivalry with the Shioumitsus…" he sighed wearily. "Neither the Shiomitsus nor the Uchihas helped either… they were wary of me just like you."

"For a good reason, Bastard," Naruto snarled. "Enough of this! What do you want? he asked impatiently. He needed to get Hinamori away from this man, because so long as she was here, he couldn't escape or fight back.

"Impatient, are we? Well… I do have something in mind that… an Uzumaki like you could help me with," Aizen said in a velvety voice that sickened Naruto to the core. "I want you to activate this seal with your chakra."

The jinchuuriki glared at the giant seal array. "What's it for? You can't expect me to cooperate without knowing!"

Aizen shrugged nonchalantly. "Fair enough… this is a containment seal."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, unconsciously glancing at his stomach. "What's inside?"

"A treasure…" Aizen answered. "Don't worry. It's not a demon."

The blond jinchuuriki stiffened at that. "This seal was made by Mito-sama, and even with my meager knowledge I can tell it's a very powerful seal. Whatever it contains should forever belong there!" he shouted angrily. He had to stall for more time! Itachi and Shisui would have noticed something was wrong and followed the trail he left by now.

Aizen snorted. "Do you forget who has the advantage here?" he muttered as he unsheathed his katana. He grazed Hinamori's left cheek causing a trail of blood to slide down her face.

Naruto flinched, gritting his teeth in anger. "Fine! What should I do to activate this seal?"

"Glad you see things my way, Naruto-kun," Aizen told him with a smile. "Stand in the middle of the seal and channel your chakra."

Naruto glared at his former mentor as he stepped onto the seal array, not taking his eyes off the man until he reached the center. "Just promise me you won't harm her…"

Aizen sighed theatrically, "I promise."

Naruto scowled, couldn't this man sound even more fake than that? He reluctantly channeled his chakra to the seal, it glowed briefly but nothing happened. He gritted his teeth "It's not working?" He muttered in disbelief.

The slick haired man growled at the boy. "Don't play with me, boy… or something tragic will happen to her!" He shouted as he placed his katana next to Hinamori's slender neck.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not playing around!" he shouted desperately. "I'm not a pureblooded Uzumaki, so maybe that's why! It's not my fault! Don't hurt her!"

Aizen scowled at the blond boy, "That's probably the case if your mother married someone else, but she married someone who was also an offshoot from Senju… your blood… Uzumaki blood, Senju blood… is in no way diluted." He stated confidently.

Aizen scowled at the blond boy. "That would have probably been the case had your mother married someone else, but she married an offspring of the Senju family… your blood… Uzumaki blood and Senju blood… is in no way diluted," he stated confidently.

"But it didn't work!" Naruto denied fervently. "What do you know about genetics anyway?! If it didn't work that means it can't function with my chakra! There's no reason for you to keep us here!"

"Maybe you just need the proper motivation." Aizen hoisted Hinamori up by her collar and ran his katana down her left arm.

Hinamori screamed in pain as a deep gash appeared on her left arm, "Aaaaagh!" but she didn't wake up from her deep sleep.

"Stop it!" Naruto cried desperately.

Aizen smirked but it quickly disappeared the moment he felt cold steel on both sides of his glanced to his sides, a pair of garnet orbs with tomoe stared back at him. Since when they were here? "How did you find us…?" He wondered out loud, "Itachi-kun, Shisui-kun?"

Itachi narrowed his sharingan eyes. "You underestimate Naruto-kun," he muttered as he pressed his ninjato against Aizen's neck, drawing a thin line of blood. "He didn't follow you without alerting us and leaving a trail to follow."

Shisui grinned as he raised his free hand. Strands of golden locks glinted dimly in the room. "I don't know how he did it, but apparently his hair has special properties when imbued with chakra… The chakra stays for a long period of time and acts as a beacon for a sensor like me to follow."

Naruto blinked at the information. When Kurama had suggested that method he hadn't thought it was actually going to work but it did! How the hell did he not know his own hair could do that? "Oh."

_**'Your mother did the same so your father would find her.'**_

_'Kurama, you make it sound like they were flirting even though the situation was probably serious.' _

_**'I'm me,' **_Kurama deadpanned.

"_Okay…" _Naruto sighed in relief. The crisis was diverted for now, or at least it was not as bad as before. Now if he could get Hinamori away from that man.

Aizen sighed theatrically, giving the shinobi a bad feeling. "Too bad you didn't catch me off guard," He said as he escaped from their grasp with a shunshin, Hinamori still in his grasp.

"Shit!" Shisui cursed. The man was faster than he'd thought. They had underestimated Aizen by thinking the man was only mid-chunin level… It seemed everything about the man was fake.

Aizen reappeared on the giant tree trunk – right on the edge of the giant seal array. He knelt down and tapped the side of it, and another seal array appeared, encircling the side of the trunk like a belt. Itachi's eyes widened when he saw the rune in the center of the seal Aizen had activated. "Everyone! Get away from the water!"

"Too late," Aizen muttered.

A torrent of lightning-natured chakra streaked across the water's surface. Even with the warning none of them managed to get away in time, even the ANBU squad waiting to ambush Aizen fell one by one.

**"ARGH!"**

Naruto's eyes widened in fear. "Itachi! Shisui! Tori! Everyone!"

Fortunately for them, the seal was very old and had not been properly maintained, thus it didn't kill them. Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. They were severely weakened, but they had all managed to survive. Itachi, Shisui and Tori had even managed to stand up on the water surface.

But at least Aizen couldn't attack them in that scale anymore, unless he... "You… have…" Naruto's eyes widened when he noticed Aizen's katana had an electric current running through it.

"Lightning affinity?" Aizen finished in an amused tone. "Yes… all I have to do is dip my katana in this water and they're all dead…""

Naruto rose to his feet angrily, his right hand grasping three shuriken engraved with seals. "Don't you dare, Aizen… If you do I will kill you!" he hissed angrily. "I know you have hostages because you can't kill me. You need me alive, so you're not the only one with an advantage here…"

"How perceptive," Aizen said sardonically as he sheathed his katana. "However," he shunshin-ed and reappeared behind Itachi and Shisui.

Itachi swung his ninjato, but his reflexes were slowed from the last attack. Shisui reacted the same but, before their weapons could strike Aizen, the seal master sent them sprawling into the tree trunk. Naruto threw his shuriken and watched his blade of wind form and soar through the air. Aizen dodged the incoming projectile with another shunshin and reappeared at his original position on the tree trunk. Naruto was forced to stop his attack; Hinamori, Itachi and Shisui were too close to Aizen.

"You…" he gritted his teeth. Since the very beginning Aizen had been expecting the ambush, and he had an advantage of knowing the terrain better than they did. They had advantage in number but that was nullified the moment they were caught off guard by that lightning element seal.

Aizen smiled as he hoisted a sopping wet Uchiha cousins onto the wooden surface. Naruto didn't have to be a genius to know what Aizen could do to them with a simple touch. "Now… I know that Hinamori is not that important to you…" Naruto was going to deny Aizen's accusation, but his blood ran cold when Aizen stabbed his katana right through Itachi's left arm. The Uchihas grunted in pain but didn't cry out. They were paralyzed from head to toe, "But I know Itachi-kun is very precious to you… Shisui-kun, too," he said as he stabbed Shisui's waist with a kunai.

"Itachi! Shisui!" Naruto didn't miss the lightning element seal on both weapons, and he had no delusions they would survive if those weapons acted as a lightning rod for Aizen.

"Aizen!" Tori roared. "Let them go!"

Itachi could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. "Na… ruto…" If he passed out here, the battle was as good as lost.

Now I have three hostages," Aizen announced as he made a ram seal. "Do you really think there's still a chance for you, Naruto-kun? Unseal the treasure!"

Naruto fell on his knees, gritting his teeth as he realized his only option. "Fine!" he shouted, his eyes closed as tears streamed down his face. "Just don't hurt them anymore… please…"

"Naruto-kun!" Itachi shouted, gritting his teeth. "Don't listen to him!"

"Yeah!" Shisui growled. "Just kill this bastard! Don't mind us!"

Aizen scowled. These Uchiha brats were really annoying. "You're _very_ lucky I need you alive, Uchiha… " he muttered sinisterly. "But isn't your request cruel?" he wondered out loud. "Asking this poor jinchuuriki, who has been shunned his entire life, to abandon his friends?"

Shisui's eyes widened as he turned his attention to Naruto. The jinchuuriki was gritting his teeth, his fists clenched to the point blood was dripping onto the ground. "Naruto… you…"

"He has sacrifice so much for this village," Aizen stated with a sneer, "but what has he gotten in return? Scorn, hatred, isolation… and you ask him to sacrifice both of you for this village? Haven't you asked him enough?"

Shisui shook his head. "Naruto… don't listen to him! You don't want this! You can't do as he said just to…"

Naruto bit his bottom lip, drawing a trail of blood down his chin. "Shut up.." He hissed, "There are many things I'd be willing to give for this village, but you and Itachi aren't it..."

Itachi gritted his teeth. How could they ask for more from this boy? He had already lost so much, and they asked him to lose more? Itachi glared at Aizen. If only he could get rid of this stupid lightning seal and recover from this paralysis...

_'Kurama… help me, I can't let this bastard get away with this,' _Naruto said mentally to his tenant. _"This guy is really sneaky and I need him to get away from my friends… but the only way to do that is… to activate the seal and attack him when he is distracted by his precious treasure! And for that…' _

_**'You're asking me how to call out an Uzumaki's special chakra?' **_Kurama asked in disbelief. _**'How should I know? But if it helps any, your mother's materialized as chains… and Mito's was a long dragon and sword…" **_

_'So… it's a type of chakra that materializes into some sort of weapon or animal?' _

_**'It's different for each person, but I suspect yours is the same as Kushina's, so try to visualize a chain or something…"**_

_"That's a pretty vague suggestion…" _Naruto murmured. "I will try to call out my chakra again..." His eyes narrowed at Aizen, "As long as you keep your hands off of them."

Aizen nodded. "As long as you behave…" He added with a sneer.

Naruto gritted his teeth with eyes closed in absolute concentration as he formed a ram seal. He recalled the dreams he'd had on many occasions of thousands of rattling chains. He began hearing them, unsure and uncaring if he was just hallucinating out of desperation. He could feel a chakra pool into his navel but, unlike his usual blue chakra or Kurama's red, it was yellow… or was it a pale orange? Gold? It didn't matter! He thought as he mentally reached out his hand to grab the phantom chains of his mind. His blue eyes glimmered as he opened them to stare at Aizen and his friends. He had to protect them, no matter what the consequences!

_The keyword is… _a familiar feminine voice echoed in his mid.

**'Seiyaku no Kusari (Chain of pledge), protect my comrades… and chain down my foe!'**

A Chain of chakra erupted from his back and move to the array of seals. Naruto gagged as he felt the chains trace the seal like a living being. The seal absorbed the blood on his bleeding fists and glowed the golden color of dawn. Naruto felt his chakra drain faster than ever, and if not for his status as jinchuuriki, he would've lost consciousness already.

"Chains… of chakra," Aizen breathed out in amazement. "How beautiful and befitting of your status."

The blonde's eyes widened as a sprout grew unnaturally fast in the center of the seal. The leaves unfurled as its stem grew to his height, and Naruto could feel one final tug on his chakra as a bud of a flower appeared on the tip of the plant. The bud unfurled its petal, blooming into a fist sized purple flower with an ominous orb glowing a sickly purple in the center.

"This is what you wanted?!" Naruto growled out, "a purple rock?!"

Aizen nodded. "It is valuable… now give it to me," Aizen demanded as he reached out.

Naruto, feeling extremely weakened, struggled to stand up. "Unfortunately… that took a toll on me, bastard, so take it yourself!" he growled out. "I'm not going to touch this thing for you!"

The older seal master sighed as he stepped forward. "What a troublesome disciple I have…"

The jinchuuriki scoffed as he backed away to give Aizen enough space to take the treasure. "Don't call me that, you traitor…" he hissed angrily.

Aizen chuckled softly as he leaned down to take his prize. His fingers brushed against the foul purple chakra before plucking the orb off of the flower.

Now!

Aizen eyes widened when a hard metal was slammed into his chest, not deeply embedded, but then again, that wasn't the purpose. "You!"

"**Katon no Juujika-Fuuin** (Fire Element Cross Seal)!" Naruto whispered as his lips curved up into a grin. "Eat this, bastard!" He backed away quickly but not before kicking Aizen's hand. The purple orb rolled across the ground.

"GUAAAGH!" Aizen screamed in pain as he tried to reach for his treasure. Unfortunately, a fire powered shuriken blew him away, slamming him into the wall. He slid down to the watery surface sluggishly.

Itachi and Shisui looked at Naruto in disbelief. "Good job, Naruto!" Shisui congratulated.

Naruto sighed as he reached out to the rolling orb, "Now let's des…"

"Naruto-kun… you did it." Itachi smiled at the boy who was about to reach out for the purple orb, his eyes widened in horror, "Naruto-kun! Move!"

he saw a shadow looming over him and heard Itachi's panicked voice. He couldn't react in time. A sharp pain was felt as a familiar katana nailed his hand to the ground before he could touch the dreaded treasure. "Hi… Hina… mori-neesan? What are you..." he muttered in disbelief as the female seal master looked down on him, her hands gripping the handle of her katana firmly.

"Hand over the treasure," she said stoically with her eyes devoid of emotion like a lifeless doll. "It belongs to Aizen-sama."

* * *

**And CUT!  
**

**Haniwa: The funny looking statue made of clay, just google it. **

**The purple orb is not hogyoku BTW~ **

**In case anyone forgot, Naruto is eight years old. An eight years old shinobi but he is still a lonely kid, he has his moments. If sixteen years old Naruto could snap, punch Minato on the gut and cried I don't see why he won't react worse when he was eight. He longs for a parent figures thus when he get bits of memory it's understandable he want to keep it, he has been trying hard to act mature but he is not an adult in any way. This apply to Itachi. If you want to see a normal eight years old kid, look at Sasuke, at this point he is an innocent child who want nothing but acknowledgement and love from his family. **

**I just received the weirdest review ever about my plot is unrealistic, eh... this Naruto, a fiction ninja manga and this story is a fan-FICTION? Have you read a godly or super Naruto?**

**I am sorry if he acts very childish in this chapter, but he is child... and he has right to act like one when he could afford it. **


	7. 7th Legacy

**What's with you guys calling for death to OCs? I mean... the interlude is not the best thing I ever wrote but I can't have them to be so devoted to Naruto out of nowhere!**

**At any rate while some of my reviewers disagree about the last chapter is my best I get more review for that chapter anyway... **

**Aizen oooh call for his death my dear readers!**

**It's beta-ed so no worries... it's undoubtedly much better than what I originally wrote. **

**There's a poll about whether or not you want to have a time skip to the start of canon, rookie 9 graduation. OR you want me to continue Naruto's story from where I left in this story. I will continue at least 3 to 5 chapters from here before I can do time skip or continue so vote it in my profile or review! **

**ps: I enable anonymous review not for irresponsible people to abuse it. I can take critiques but I 'hate' people using it just to tell me what's so suck about my story without a good reason. I especially pissed off someone just tell me too many OC, delete them! Who the hell are you to demand that? **

**And all these complains make me wonder, have you read my first chapter author note AT ALL? **

**Here is the copy : This is the kind of story in which, I write what I 'want' which is not necessarily a good story like any other I have written before. It's more to my personal pleasure you see, no worrying for 101 guide of good fanfiction. I want to write a cool fuuinjutsu user Naruto, and so I write one. **

* * *

**7th Legacy: You're Our Pride **

**"Now, Naruto… wipe your tears! The shinobi in front of you is going to leave with pride… **  
**he protected you 'till the very end. We should be proud of him…"**  
_Uchiha Shisui to Uzumaki Naruto_

Naruto didn't care about the hole in his hand or the resulting sharp pain; both were the farthest thing from his mind. He had been careless, and his friends had paid the price. He should have realize how odd it was for Aizen to knock Hinamori out by holding the back of her neck, or paid attention to the scruff of her neck when she was laying down. He did neither, and now Hinamori had nailed his hand to the wooden surface with her katana. The price he paid for his carelessness.

Naruto ignored the pain as he pulled the katana out of his hand, spilling his blood all over the seal array. Hinamori paid him no mind as she strode to her master who looked dead, but... could he survive that? His breath hitched when he saw the seal array on the back of Hinamori's neck, a crudely made mind control seal.

What the hell was Aizen thinking? One of the most obscure type of seals were the ones that dealt with the mind, using that kind of seal recklessly would destroy someone's mind. His blood ran cold at the thought of the seal having been planted a long time ago. Hinamori had been with Aizen for years, her mind was probably...

The sound of metal hitting wood alerted him to Itachi and Shisui pulling Aizen's weapons out of themselves. Faint smoke was coming off of both weapons from the fire jutsus used to destroy the seal arrays carved into them. A wise move, he decided. Naruto winced when he felt the wound on his hand closing rapidly. He'd never had a wound this deep before, so the experience of his muscle tissue being pulled and mended by Kurama's demonic chakra was foreign and slightly painful.

"Naruto-kun," Itachi's calm voice alerted him to the ANBU's presence by his side, "are you alright?"

The jinchuuriki nodded, watching from the corner of his eyes as all the ANBU retreated to the giant tree stump. It was a wise choice; they didn't want Aizen to attack them again with his lightning element. "I'm fine... but Hinamori, she's under his control..."

Someone would have tried to approach her and knock her out, but what she held made them pause. In one hand, she was holding one of Aizen's kunai with a lightning element seal, and in the other was the dreaded treasure. Stepping anywhere near the water's surface was a suicidal move, and although they were physically superior compared to Hinamori, it would be too dangerous to confront her. They knew that a mind-controlled human, like her, could do the unthinkable with little regard to themselves and their surroundings.

"Taichou, could we use the wall to get to her?" Kuma asked Tori warily.

Tori turned to the Uchihas and said, "Itachi, Shisui... can you see if anything's in the wall? If there's another seal trap there it could be a dead end."

Itachi and Shisui nodded, pushing more chakra into their eyes to see better in the dimly lit room. "I can see some traces of chakra..." Shisui gulped at the sight and what it implied. "This is bad."

The Uchiha scion nodded, "how could we miss this?" He gritted his teeth, his sharingan spinning furiously. "The wall... is a landmine." If they had noticed earlier, they wouldn't have even dared to touch the wall. And to think, all of this was a defense mechanism made by Uzumaki Mito?

The warning of 'don't touch the seal' was never voiced, but it didn't need be. The Uzumaki clan was notorious for their use of seals as traps.

Naruto coughed, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. "Because this giant seal array activated," he breathed out, "the defense mechanism that's been dormant for so long has been revived by my chakra. But, Aizen and Hinamori have been here before, so they probably know how to deactivate it..." Though Hinamori had probably not been aware of Aizen's malicious intent towards the seal. Naruto gritted his teeth, "It's designed to annihilate intruders if they manage to reach the treasure, but it's backfired in our case, because they know how to control it while we don't."

Aizen's hoarse laughter rang throughout the room. "How perceptive, Naruto-kun! Ha ha ha... as expected of an Uzumaki."

The younger seal master scowled. "Aizen..."

Shisui snarled. "How the hell are you still alive after that attack?"

Aizen tilted his head to the side as he stood up to his full height. On his chest was an ugly burn scar though it wasn't a life threatening injury. "It's a simple trick any seal master with mediocre knowledge of medical ninjutsu could achieve..." he revealed. "It ate more than half my chakra, though."

"Aren't you cocky …" Tori drawled. "Revealing your secrets is foolish."

"Though that can be easily rectified with this treasure," Aizen stated as glanced at Hinamori who held the treasure close to her chest. "Now, Hinamori, give me the treasure."

Naruto tried to move, but Itachi stopped him. "You, of all people, should know it's unwise to attack Aizen blindly," the Uchiha scion muttered stoically.

"Don't!" Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Hinamori force the purple orb into Aizen's burned chest. "Is he crazy? He's trying to consume that foul chakra?"

**_'I once knew a foolish pair of brothers who did the same,' _**Kurama informed with a growl. **_'Aizen will either grow stronger or die because of chakra intoxication." _**

_'I see...' _Naruto gritted his teeth, _'but will he be able to control that power?' _

Kurama cackled, **_'Who knows? Either way he'll find out... " _**

_'Is that so?'_ Naruto cut his mental conversation short, ignoring Kurama's indignant rambling about his ungrateful jinchuuriki. Whether or not what Kurama said was true, it was still just a prediction. Meanwhile, Aizen had become quiet as his eyes started to glow an eerie purple. He strolled leisurely in their direction with a smirk on his face. Naruto didn't like this sudden confidence Aizen had gained with stepping into the tree stump, the only trap free area. After all, he was the one with a severe disadvantage as far as the number of allies went.

"What are…?" Naruto's eyes widened when Aizen vanished from his sight. The next thing he knew, the ANBU members who stood beside Itachi fell to the ground in bloody messes, and said Uchiha was blocking Aizen's bloody hand with his ninjato.

Itachi winced. "What power..." He could see Aizen's every move with his sharingan enhanced eyes, but his body couldn't react in time. With just brute strength, the man was pushing him back.

Shisui growled, "When did he..." The shunshin expert vanished and reappeared next to the traitor and swung his ninjato, but was greeted by air.

"UARGH!" The sickening sound of crushed ribs echoed as the ANBU with a bear mask was slammed into the ground.

Tori backed away, suppressing his anger about the death of his subordinates as his hands ran through a series of seals. "Suiton: Suigadan (Water Release: Water Fang Bullet)!" A torrent of water rose up and spun like a drill, barreling towards man in question just smiled as he cut through the drill of water with his bare hands. "Is that it?"

Shisui scowled. In just the blink of an eye, they were down to four shinobi, Naruto excluded. Shisui glanced at the blond, immediately knowing by the way he wobbled on his feet that he was far from ok. The Uchiha could understand though, it was common for most children to be exhausted when they activated their bloodline for the first time. Shisui's attention was drawn to Itachi as he sheathed his ninjato, and his eyes widened when he saw the large crack on the sword. Itachi appeared calm, but Shisui could tell his cousin was running a number of strategies through his mind.

"How strong is this bastard?" Shisui asked with a grimace at the broken ninjato.

"He's strong enough to tear us apart with his bare hands," Itachi answered calmly. "Do not engage him directly."

Naruto winced, it seemed Aizen was nowhere near dying of chakra poisoning. "Itachi... Shisui..." he called, "Aizen is absorbing the foul chakra of that orb, and even though his chakra, power ,and speed has increased exponentially... he's not infallible... and he's not supposed to be able to control this power too quickly." He coughed again before he took a deep breath. "Please stall him to give me more time. I have a plan."

Itachi nodded as his right hand pulled a wire from his weapon's pouch. "I'm going first."

Tori and his remaining subordinate, Nezumi, dodged another torrent of lighting attacks in their limited amount of space. Itachi was right. Save for the tree stump, the whole area was a landmine for them. Tori somersaulted and landed right on the edge of the wooden surface. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Itachi land in between him and Nezumi. "Itachi..."

"Taichou," Itachi began, "let's focus on immobilizing this man, while we stall for time. We must try to keep him inside this giant seal array as long as we can."

Nezumi turned to the Uchiha prodigy. "What do you mean?"

Tori ended the conversation with, "talk later, he's coming."

* * *

Naruto knelt on the wooden surface, his fingers tracing the center of the giant seal array. Shisui was beside him looking worried. Naruto ignored the weary state his mind and body were in as he tried to focus. His chakra pool was nearly empty, and he knew he didn't have enough to accomplish the required tasks. He could call out Kurama's energy, but what he needed was Uzumaki chakra, not Kurama's demonic one. It was frustrating being so useless and weak when he had a role to fulfill in this battle. Failure just wasn't an option. He had already lost two of the ANBU guards who'd protected him for years, and he wasn't going to lose any more of his friends.

He drew his legs into lotus position, his fingers forming a ram seal. It would help to recover his chakra a bit faster. "Naruto," the young seal master frowned, "brace yourself," Shisui murmured, a grim expression painted on his face. "It seems a lady is joining our party."

Naruto grimaced at the bun-haired girl who walked towards them, her katana glimmering in the dim light. "Hinamori-nee..." he hissed. "Shisui, try to immobilize her... she has no sense of self-preservation as she is now..."

Which meant it was the same as fighting someone who was ready to die, and in Shisui's book, that was always a bad idea. If you engage with this kind recklessly, you would end up dying with them. "Understood."

As soon as the word left his mouth, Hinamori charged at Shisui, and though the shunshin expert dodged the attack easily, he was displeased by the implications of the first attack. Naruto was right about the 'no sense of self-preservation' part. This girl had charged at him with all her power when there were so many other openings. His sharingan spun wildly as he tried to trap her in a genjutsu, but nothing happened. Maybe the seal blocked genjutsu attacks or something?

Shisui dodged another sloppy attack. "Che," he grunted.

From the way she attacked, Shisui could tell she wanted him to attack her, and he could only imagine how splendidly that would end, especially if the seal on her katana was the same as Aizen's. Lightning natured chakra was second only to wind when it came to versatility, so touching a weapon with that kind of seal was a suicide.

Fortunately for Shisui, he also had a trick on his weapon. "I have lightning chakra, too, Ojou-chan." Shisui grinned as his weapon clashed with Hinamori's.

The petite girl's face remained stoic as she exchanged blow after blow with Shisui, but it was obvious she wasn't faring well. Shisui could tell she was not used to using one katana, because she was a twin sword user. A person under mind control, like her, hadn't thought ahead, so she hadn't bothered to regain possession of the katana she'd used on Naruto earlier.

The blond boy silently watched Shisui and Hinamori from the corner of his eyes, and it seemed Shisui was doing well. He was still low on chakra, so he could only hope they could buy him more time. His blue eyes then glanced at the other battle that was not going well. At some point, some sort of wing made of ominous, purple chakra had erupted from Aizen's back making him look decidedly less human. Some sort of strange, black pattern was spreading over his skin, and even a non-sensor could feel the unnatural chakra practically radiating from him. What the hell had that orb done to Aizen?

It was a three against one battle, and though they were ANBU, they could barely hold their ground against him. In fact, Aizen was just toying with them, biding his time and savoring his moment of superiority. The lack of land for their battleground didn't help either, especially since they wanted to keep their distance and stick to mid to long range attacks.

Itachi was thinking along the same lines as Naruto. Whatever was happening to Aizen would have undesirable outcome for them. While they pondered over their next course of action, Tori broke the silence, his normally reserved voice sounding unsure because of the weird markings marring Aizen's skin. "You're... one of that bastard's experiments?" he growled out murderously.

"Tori-taichou?" Itachi glanced at the man; he'd never seen his captain look so perturbed.

Aizen laughed because, unlike them, he knew what Tori was referring to. "Oh, Orochimaru-san?" The amount of politeness used to address the most dangerous missing nin Konoha had ever produced didn't sit well with them. "Do I look like someone who does his bidding?" he asked in a mocking tone, faking an indignant expression. "I'm not one of those fake dolls he created," Aizen muttered, and for a moment, the false, genial smile he always donned returned to his face. "I'm an original carrier of this blessing." At this point, the marks covered over half of his body.

"Blessing?" Tori repeated, his ninjato pointed at the traitor. "It's a curse that feeds on power-hungry men like you."

Aizen scoffed, then he let out a maniacal laughter at Tori's insult. "Maybe to those copies," he grinned, charging the ANBU, "but not for me!" Tori hissed as he blocked Aizen's kick with his arm guard. It shattered in an instant and he could feel his bone screaming in protest under the immense pressure. Itachi and Nezumi didn't stay idle, they both raised their respective weapons and dealt a blow to the man's vital points.

CLANK!

Nezumi gasped as his ninjato snapped in two instead of piercing Aizen's spinal column, Itachi's kunai also broke. The ANBU knew in an instant that engaging Aizen in close range, even with three against one, was dangerous. They all jumped away from the traitor, but Nezumi was not lucky enough to escape as Aizen turned and caught him by his throat. Nezumi tried to break free but Aizen had an iron like grip on his throat, cutting off his air supply. "Before I kill you all..." Aizen began with a sneer, "I think it would be fair to indulge the reason of why I did this..."

* * *

Naruto never thought he would thank God for the dreaded monologue every cocky villain did to reveal their plans. **_'Madara's bad habit, the dreaded monologue~' _**

_'It's working to my advantage, so let him,' _Naruto muttered to Kurama. _'Besides...it's a sign he's getting over-confident, and that's good news for us.'_

Nezumi was caught, but Tori wouldn't let his subordinate die without trying to save him.

**_'Just concentrate on recovering your chakra,' _**Kurama hissed coolly. **_'Your chakra coils are in a bad shape after that last stunt you pulled. You weren't ready for that.'_**Chakra coils were the pathways of chakra circulation, so if the coils were undeveloped like Naruto's (or any child's), it didn't matter if a shinobi had a lot of chakra available. Extreme use of chakra resulted in the wear of these coils, because they weren't ready for the strain, which could lead to the inability to use chakra later. **'_I'm healing them now, so hopefully they'll be in good enough condition for your plan, but I got to warn you... it's going to hurt like a bitch later!' _**

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the warning. _'That's the least of my concerns.' _

"Naruto-kun," Aizen called the jinchuuriki in his fake, genial voice, just like how he used to. It snapped Naruto's attention back to his former mentor and made him want to hurl. "You may loath your jinchuuriki status, but there was once a clan who willingly became demon vessels."

The Kyuubi jinchuuriki glared at the traitor. "A clan of fools then," he hissed testily.

"Fools?" Aizen echoed, slamming Nezumi into the hard, wooden surface. The ANBU was still breathing but the sickening cracks they heard definitely indicated broken ribs. Aizen moved away from his latest victim, and Tori glared at the man as he checked on Nezumi.

Aizen laughed. "My clan was the greatest! We were the next step in human evolution!" he boasted proudly.

More like disgraces to humanity, Naruto thought furiously. "I hardly believe that." Naruto didn't even bat an eye when Itachi landed next to him. The Uchiha probably knew that Naruto was baiting Aizen to keep him talking, but probably wasn't willing to risk the man's wrath coming out. A dull thud not far from Naruto made the boy briefly glance in Shisui's direction, Hinamori was once again out cold. Shisui had tied her up with a rope for safety measures and confiscated her weapon's pouch and scrolls; he even used the confining seal Naruto gave him.

The traitor looked at his former student disapprovingly. "We were... in fact, _better_ than jinchuuriki like you," he drawled haughtily, looking at Naruto condescendingly. "Unlike you, we contained demons in our body with no seals... they became a part of us, and we were in control of their power... It gave us vitality and longevity superior to lesser humans..."

Naruto was pretty sure no jinchuuriki – especially himself – would want to be compared to an abomination like Aizen. The man was just so proud of being able to abuse the power that came with being less human. "So your clan bred with lesser demons?" Kurama had once told him that the bijuu were not the only demons around, and that lesser demons did exist and could breed with humans to produce half-demon spawn. The Uzumaki family was originally a clan of onmyouji that exorcised demons who threatened humanity, and the Rokudo Sennin had also been one before he 'created' the shinobi profession.

Aizen looked like he'd been slapped across the face. "As if. We took the power of the demons we sealed and implanted it into our bodies..." he informed, placing his hand above his heart as a sneer marred his face. All of his skin had turned to a sickly shade of purple, and the butterfly-like wings made of chakra had fully extended out of his back. His appearance was decidedly bestial, and his chakra only grew fouler with each passing moment.

The blond jinchuuriki felt his heartbeat become more erratic, and he felt restless. **_'It's nothing. Uzumakis are pretty sensitive to demon chakra... Your body is alert, that's all. If anything, this will speed up your recovery rate because your body instinctively knows there's a threat.'_**Naruto guessed that had something to do with the Uzumaki's profession prior to the shinobi age.

**_'Your Uchiha friends, however...' _**Kyuubi redirected the jinchuuriki's attention toward the cousins.

"Urgh!" Itachi and Shishui suddenly hurled and threw up the contents of their stomach.

The Uchiha scion coughed as he struggled to regain control of his body. "What's… happened?" Itachi hissed.

Shisui cradled his head, "I'm getting dizzy…"

"Itachi! Shisui!" Naruto called out to them, "are you all right?"

Kyuubi scoffed, **_'They're the descendants of the Rokudo Sennin… so they're pretty sensitive, too. Normally, they wouldn't have reacted this badly to this kind of demonic chakra, but…' _**He trailed off, **_'Mixing poison could produce a more lethal one, it's something like that… Aizen-bastard have foul chakra since the very beginning but he absorbed another kind of nasty chakra which no good for your senses or the Uchiha's." _**

"Great, it's an enemy that makes us want to puke literally," Naruto muttered under his breath, feeling his stomach twist unpleasantly. _'Just a bit more… please make it in time.' _

Aizen looked unperturbed by their speculations of him and their reactions to his transformation. The sclera of his eyes turned black while the irises became yellow. He also gained a black stripe running from the middle of his forehead down to the bridge of his nose, and his skin's texture became tough and jagged like a rock. "Hm… I can think clearly…" he murmured, revealing his voice had become deeper and hoarse. "I like it."

Shisui and Itachi wiped their mouths, neither looking happy to be reduced to their current state. "Itachi, Shisui…" Naruto called their attention to him, "don't worry about the sudden nausea, it'll wear off fast…" he wheezed out. "Don't think to fight him head on, just keep him distracted from me and stay alive…"

"Got it." Shisui grinned then said to Itachi, "Ready?"

Itachi scoffed, "Whenever you are."

They jumped away from Naruto and landed on the opposite side of Aizen. Their enemy looked unconcerned, taking his time to marvel about his new power. **"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" **

Aizen batted away the incoming fireball with his bare hands, much to their ire. Shisui gritted his teeth when Aizen appeared in a flash, leaving the shunshin expert barely any time to defend with his lightning-coated ninjato. Shisui knew if not for the coating on his ninjato, he would have met the same fate as Itachi's ANBU teammates. His eyes widened when a crack appeared on his ninjato from Aizen's force. He tried to move away, but Aizen was too strong, so he was locked in the clash. Itachi, though, came to his rescue, throwing a barrage of kunai with explosion tags. The blast didn't deal any meaningful damage to Aizen, but it allowed Shisui a safe retreat.

"Thank you, Itachi!" Shisui grinned at his cousin as he jumped away, then cringed when he saw his broken ninjato. "Shit." Next time he'd have to bring a spare, he noted mentally.

Aizen was not pleased with Itachi's interference and decided to give the boy a taste of his own medicine. Aizen grew jet booster-like appendages on his arms, extended them and gathered chakra. He formed a huge and powerful chakra blast that Itachi barely dodged in time with a shunshin. Itachi reappeared beside Shisui as they surveyed the damage left by the chakra blast Aizen unleashed.

Itachi's expression was grim. "That attack, if it had hit…"

Shisui gulped, "It's unlikely you'd have survived that." The wall Aizen hit with that chakra blast had a half sphere shaped hole and the water' surface was split like the red sea before it crashed back together.

They had no time to talk as Aizen went after them again, and the battle continued by exchanging elemental ninjutsu attacks, because going anywhere near Aizen was too risky. Tori protected them all with earth element shields, but they only lasted long enough to give them a chance to catch their breath. The ANBU captain knew their chakra was running low and that they were on their last leg.

Meanwhile, Nezumi was having difficulty breathing because of the earlier attack that broke his ribs, and he knew a broken bone had punctured his lungs. So while Shisui and Itachi distracted Aizen with another barrage of fireballs, Nezumi pulled his captain aside to explain his plan.

"I have a plan, but it will cost me." Nezumi gritted out.

Tori protested, "But…"

"Captain! Listen… we can't fail Naruto again… _not_ again…" Nezumi reminded.

Tori was reluctant at first but eventually gave in as neither of them were much use as they were. Tori had taken a beating on his left leg from Aizen, and it was useless now. They looked at their junior teammate then to Naruto, who was still recovering. It was now or never.

Tori cut Aizen's path off with another water element attack that pushed the deformed human back a few feet. Like all previous attacks, it did minimal damage but caused Aizen to direct his vengeance onto the ones who attacked him. Tori knew that would happen because, despite all of Aizen's boasting of brilliance, he had a pretty simple mind when it came to the battlefield.

However, Aizen never got to his target as another ANBU moved to block his path. "Got you." Nezumi grinned when he caught Aizen's fist with his hands, ignoring the cracking noise his arms made. He shifted his body when another fist moved to smash him, but this time Aizen's fist pierced his stomach. "Urgh… "Nezumi grunted in pain. "Thank… you for holding me back, just like I wanted."

"Nezumi!" Naruto shouted in horror. His chakra was almost full, he could feel it…

Nezumi wished he could take off his mask, so he could show Naruto a smile in his dying moments. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I at least I protected you 'till the very end…" He laughed softly, then turned to Aizen. "As for you, embrace the earth, bastard!** Doton: Ganban Kyū **(Earth Release: Bedrock Coffin)!" A mud-like substance flowed from his mouth, forming a rocky ground under his feet. Then, two gigantic rocks rose and crashed into its user and Aizen.

"Nezumi…" Naruto stared at the rock coffin, his eyes widening when he saw a tiny crack on its surface.

**_'Naruto, concentrate! That bastard's still alive! Do it now while he's still trapped there!' _**Kurama warned his vessel. **"And get your friends away from that coffin!" **

"Itachi! Shisui! Tori!" Naruto shouted desperately, "he's still alive! Get away from there!" As the three shinobi heeded his warning, Naruto began to pull his chakra chain out of his body. "Ugh!" He nearly screamed when pain racked his body. It felt like an unclosed wound was grating against sandpaper. Kurama was right about his chakra coils, but he _needed_ to focus and ignore the pain.

Once again, the chain shot out and traced the seal carved on the wooden surface, but the chakra drain was even more rapid than last time, and Naruto felt his consciousness slipping away. Aizen's head and hand holding his katana suddenly broke through the coffin, but the rest of his body remained buried. "No! I'm not going to end here! My clan shall be avenged! Lesser humans will pay!" he roared at the three shinobi before turning his attention to Naruto. "Die, jinchuuriki!" Aizen threw his katana at the defenseless blond.

"Naruto-kun!" Itachi moved as fast as he could, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stop the sword. His eyes widened when he saw someone was already there to block the sword. "Tori-taichou!"

Naruto saw the incoming projectile with half-lidded eyes, he couldn't move… then his vision was suddenly painted with blood, and something warm was soaking his cheek. "Heh… are you all right, Naruto?"

The jinchuuriki stared at the mask of a bird that fell on his lap, then looked to the katana that pierced the ANBU's chest and the unmasked face. "Tori…"

Tori smiled at the boy he had protected for years. "Don't… worry about… me," he coughed out. "Seal him now, Naruto..."

Naruto nodded, tears streaming down his face as he answered, "Yes…" The chain moved at a slower pace as Naruto pushed his remaining chakra into forming the seal.

Aizen struggled to break free, but since the seal was nearly complete, he couldn't. "Die! You should all die! Hinamoriiiiiiii! Kill them!"

Shisui's eyes widened when he saw Hinamori had regained consciousness while they were distracted. Her rope bindings had been cut off with the katana she'd pinned Naruto with earlier, but luckily the seal on her still remained intact. Shisui and Itachi quickly moved to block Hinamori, who had stood up on her master's command, and much to their shock, she was trying to break free of the binding seal with brute strength.

Shisui gritted his teeth as he raised his kunai. "Hey, stop that!" Moments later she was released, and her whole body was marred by cuts all over as a result. Shisui cursed, he didn't have enough chakra to use his lightning release, and Itachi wasn't faring any better. His remaining chakra was being used to just keep himself standing.

"Hinamori-san… come back to your senses, you don't want this…" Itachi hissed as he helped his ANBU captain to sit. It was painful seeing the life slipping away, and it reminded him so much of the war.

"Hinamori!" Aizen roared desperately, "move! Kill Naruto!"

Naruto turned to Hinamori, who had stopped her advance, and watched as her eyes shifted from lifeless to normal, back and forth. She was struggling to break free of the control seal. "Fight back, Hinamori-neesan! Fight it!"

Hinamori suddenly fell on her knees, raising her katana, but instead of attacking Itachi and Shisui, she stabbed her right hand through to the ground. Her eyes were normal as tears streamed down her face. "I don't… want… to hurt… anyone…" she stammered as blood dyed the ground red. "Little brother… my dear brother…" She looked at Naruto with a smile on her face. "I'm sorry… so sorry, nee-san can't protect you… hurt you…"

"Hinamori-neesan?" Naruto called out to her, but she fell to the ground, her eyes closed as she slipped back into unconsciousness. She was still alive but that break down just now… her mind… it was… "Aizen!" Naruto hissed furiously as he felt his chakra chains trace over the last stroke of the seal. "Go back to where you belong!"

Hands made of wood grew out of the seal array and pulled Aizen out of the earth coffin. Nezumi's body fell to the ground as the wooden hands trapped Aizen in their grip. "No! Nooo!" Aizen roared hysterically, "let me go!" His skin reverted back to normal and the transformation slipped away. His eyes widened in horror when he realized the wood chakra the Shodaime left was purifying his power. "You will pay! You will pay, Jinchuuriki! One day, my clan will rise again!" he roared as half of his body sunk into the wood. "We're the chosen humans! We will rise again! Ha ha ha ha!"

Naruto shook his head. "No, you won't…" he hissed, "I won't let you… ever…" Naruto formed a ram seal, his breathing ragged as he shouted,

**"Fuuin!"**

And with that, Aizen was dragged down into the seal with not a trace left of him. A spell of silence hung in the air as they all stared at the smooth surface of wood where the traitor previously was. "It's over," shisui whispered.

Itachi looked at Naruto then to his captain. "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto turned his attention to Itachi, his expression grim as he looked at Tori. The ANBU captain's chakra was so weak, he was dying. "Tori…" Naruto stood up slowly, limping over to Itachi and Tori.

The ANBU captain was laughing softly. His damp, brown hair was askew, and he was looking at Naruto with half lidded green eyes. "Heh." The katana was still embedded in his chest, and though his bleeding didn't show any signs of stopping, it had staved off death long enough to say goodbye. It wasn't much time, but he could say what he wanted at least.

"I'm so sorry…" Naruto muttered, tears streaming down his face. "Because of me…"

Tori grinned at Naruto as his hand rose to cup the boy's whiskered cheek. "Don't cry… it's not your fault. My team and I chose to protect you with our lives… so as a shinobi and your protector we're content…"

Naruto sobbed and stammered, "but… if only I was stronger… if only… I was a better shinobi and jinchuuriki, you wouldn't…"

Tori shook his head. "Naruto… not once did my team or I see our duty as protecting the jinchuuriki of Konoha," he muttered in a pained voice. "We protected you, because… we love you."

"You love me?" Naruto asked in a daze. It was not out of duty but genuine love?

The ANBU captain nodded. "We always have… If anything… I'm the one who should be asking for forgiveness," he coughed, his smile looking pained. "That night… when you were born, my team was one of the ANBU squads assigned to protect your parents… we failed, even though we're the first line of defense and before we knew it other team had been killed and Yondaime had to seal Kyuubi..." His team had survived since they were guarding the farthest area from the cave. They hadn't even known they were under attack until Kyuubi appeared. Tori's eyes closed briefly as he recalled the other dead squads, the picture of tragedy from eight years ago.

"Tori… what happened isn't… your fault." Naruto stammered sadly.

Tori shook his head, "We couldn't protect the Yondaime and Kushina-sama… not when we found him sealing the Kyuubi into you, and not even as they spoke to you with their dying breaths," Tori said in a broken voice. "You had your parents for a few miserable minutes… and then you were scorned by those you sacrificed your life for… We watched this and wished we could've eased your pain, but…"

Naruto sobbed as he grasped the gentle hand on his cheek. "I was happy though, because you were always there for me… I can't thank you and your team enough!"

Tori's dark green eyes widened, a small smile painted on his lips. "Thank you…" he muttered in a hushed whisper. "Now, I understand your parents' feelings, at least a little… I wish… I could protect you longer… but…" His voice was hoarse as he glanced at the Uchihas. "Itachi… this is my last order as your captain."

Itachi nodded. "Yes, I'll protect…"

Tori cut him off with, "No… what I want you to do is to be Naruto's comrade, not a protector in the shadows like us… we were able to protect him from physical harm, but we could never protect his heart," he stated regretfully. "We let those vengeful villagers to scorn him… and we could do nothing. I want you to be by his side as a comrade… you and your cousin, please…"

"Yes… Tori-taichou," Itachi said in a hushed whisper. "I promise… "

Shisui nodded, "Me too…" He grinned as he dragged the dazed Naruto into his arms, "Now, Naruto… wipe your tears," he said as he helped the boy to do so, he could hear his voice was shaking. "The shinobi in front of you is going to leave with pride… he protected you 'till the very end. We should be proud of him…"

Tori grinned. "That's right… so, Naruto… smile," he requested hoarsely. "It's been a while since I saw your real smile."

Naruto nodded, his lips curving up as he gave the ANBU his foxy grin. "Like this?"

He nodded, "Yes… thank you, Naruto, for… everything…" he muttered as he closed his green eyes slowly and welcomed his death. He had no regrets. When he reunited with his teams, he would congratulate them for a job well done; they had protected Naruto until the very end. Then, he would see the Yondaime and Kushina-sama and tell them their boy had grown to be…

**A hero… **

* * *

Naruto awoke to the irritatingly familiar smell of antiseptics. The smell came with being confined to the hospital, aka prison. However, this time it was not as bad as usual, because he when he saw Tokusa and his master, Hakurei, sitting beside his bed and looking at him with identical expressions of worry. Hakurei was the leader of the Shiomitsu clan and was as old as the Sandaime. He wore a white kimono with dark blue lining and a dark maroon scarf, and his white hair was styled in a high ponytail.

He sat up with a dazed feeling. It took a few moments for him to register them asking about his condition and tears began welling up as he recalled what happened in that underground chamber.

It didn't take long to recover his bearings; he had to be coherent to demand the Shiomitsu pair tell him what happened afterwards. Naruto had apparently passed out yesterday because of severe chakra exhaustion. Itachi and Shisui had also suffered from chakra exhaustion and a couple of bruises and cuts. Overall, there was nothing to worry about with the Uchiha cousins as they only needed a few days of rest. Hakurei promised he would bring him to visit the Uchihas, whose room was in a completely different wing of the hospital.

Hakurei was extremely careful in the wording of his report about how they were separated as precaution. Naruto couldn't help but growl at that, but he couldn't fault the logic. The Uchiha family was trying to stave off accusations of them trying to influence Naruto to their supposed cause, or whatever ludicrous ideas people had… which got pretty ridiculous in Naruto's opinion.

Then, Hakurei asked him if he was all right to hear more about his recently dead ex-mentor. Naruto assured them he had never trusted Aizen, had even noticed the man's power-hungry eyes on him since the very beginning. He was also pretty angry with Shiomitsus, since they had been at odds with Aizen but had never explained the reason for the animosity. He had been lead to believe it was a simple political struggle between the two.

Hakurei and Tokusa apologized and would have bowed deeply if he had not stopped them; he just wanted them to be honest with him. After Hakurei asked Tokusa to guard the door from outside, he applied a privacy seal on the room. Then, Hakurei began his story about Aizen Sousuke and how the man was welcomed into their ranks.

"It was twenty five years ago… right before the Second Shinobi World War reached its end," Hakurei began solemnly. "Uzushiogakure had just fallen, so Konoha was desperate to find the survivors. One of the few clans they managed to find was the Shiomitsu clan…" He looked at Naruto sadly. "We're a clan who serves under the main family of Uzumaki, Mito-sama's and your family line…"

Naruto nodded, he could guess that much from how they treated him. "But what's any of that got to do with Aizen?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm getting to that, Naruto-sama," Hakurei said patiently. "The problem was… at that time, all records of Uzushiogakure's inhabitants was lost, and Konoha didn't know any better… so a clan used that to their advantage to join Konoha's ranks, claiming they were a small clan from our fallen homeland." Hakurei's expression was pained as he continued his story, but Naruto needed to know. "That clan… was Aizen's."

"So they lied?" Naruto asked incredulously. "But if you worked as my family's vassal how could they deceive Konoha? You should have known they weren't a part of Uzushiogakure."

"No one really cared at that time." Hakurei gritted his teeth as he explained that since Uzushiogakure's records were lost, it was impossible to prove the family was not from their fallen homeland. Not to mention, like many families of Uzushio, the Aizen clan showed prowess in fuuinjutsu and nothing much in any other field. The clan members were malnourished and weak. They acted like a clan of genial scholars like Aizen Sousuke, so when they begged on their knees for place in Konoha, the Sandaime could not deny them.

Hakurei took a deep breath, "But still… Konoha didn't really trust them, so they were placed on the outskirts of Konoha." He looked down, "They were surprisingly content with that arrangement." Hakurei gritted his teeth, "but then… their clan members died out one by one in a short period of time… a clan the size of ten families was suddenly reduced to three families in two years. The clan was very tightlipped about it, and while the rest of Konoha was not affected, Sandaime couldn't just turn a blind eye."

Naruto could guess what Sandaime did next; the clan was put on heavy surveillance by ANBU. "So what'd they find?"

Hakurei shook slightly as he recalled the horror he witnessed two decades ago. "Experimentation that involved fuuinjutsu, lesser demons, and genetic manipulation... a cursed branch of study called Juuinjutsu," he muttered with a disgusted face, "which they inflicted on their own kin. That was the last straw… The Sandaime ordered his shinobi to capture the clan members. My clan was ordered by Mito-sama to assist in the raid…" He continued with a grieving voice, "we were just going to arrest them… but it turned into a massacre when the Aizens turned into monsters and attacked our forces."

"Monsters…" Naruto murmured, "Like _he _did."

Hakurei nodded. "The mild-mannered clan turned into bloodthirsty monsters in one night, and we had no choice but to kill them all… and after we dealt with the adults, we searched for their children, hoping that they had survived…" The old man gritted his teeth. "But what we found were five dead children… ranging from the ages of five to ten years old, all dead… inside a wooden coffin…" Hakurei rubbed his temple as he continued his story. "Or at least my brother and I thought they were… we checked their pulse and everything," he explained with a pained voice. "Then, suddenly what we _thought_ was a miracle happened, the oldest of the five children… Aizen Sousuke, started to breathe again."

Naruto's eyes widened, "He… survived?"

"We let our guard down," the Shiomitsu muttered sadly. "We thought it was a miracle… we checked the boy into the hospital and found he was normal, except for the weird enzyme in his body… it was dormant so we thought nothing about it. My brother was a kind man… he felt responsible for Aizen Sousuke so he adopted and raised the child as his own." Hakurei shook his head, "It wasn't until Sagetsu passed away seven years ago that we started to suspect Aizen…"

Aizen Sousuke had been adopted into the Shiomitsu clan and raised by the previous division leader, Shiomitsu Sagetsu. The distrust for Aizen had started to form when the surrogate father had suddenly fallen ill and passed away. At first it was grief that made the Shiomitsu clan want to blame someone… even to the point of Hakurei being paranoid enough to dig up his brother's grave to perform an autopsy of the body. Hakurei was very enraged by what he found. In his brother's body was the same enzyme found dormant in Aizen's body years ago, and it had killed his brother slowly.

However, that evidence was invalid due to the lack of proof and knowledge of how the enzyme could invade Sangetsu's body. In the end, the case was closed, and it was concluded that his brother was poisoned with a slow acting serum during the massacre. There was nothing Hakurei could do to refute that possibility. Aizen Sousuke, on the other hand, took that chance to act as the tragic adopted son Sangetsu left. Sousuke accused them of slandering his name so Hakurei could take his late brother's position, and the split of power in Seal Tower was inevitable – half went to Aizen and another half to the Shiomitsus.

In the end, Sandaime brought up Sagetsu's will, one that, until today, couldn't be confirmed as false or legitimate. So Sousuke was chosen to be the next leader, and he discarded the Shiomitsu surname he took up when Sangetsu adopted him, claiming it disgusted him to shoulder the same surname as Hakurei. Their clan could only swallow bitterly as they lived under the rule of the traitor, and it was only when Naruto had come to their tower that they saw a chance to overthrow Aizen. Unfortunately, Aizen saw a different kind of chance in Naruto. He wanted to use the Uzumaki to unlock the cursed treasure Shodaima and Uzumaki Mito sealed.

The treasure was a legacy that was left behind by a fallen village called Hoshigakure, a meteor that granted immense power. The treasure emitted a foul chakra and was very dangerous, which was why the Shodaime and his wife sealed it in the depths of their tower. The only reason they hadn't destroyed it was because the Shodaime was unsure of the consequences destroying it would cause. Hakurei suspected the Aizen clan originally hailed from the fallen Hoshigakure and had records of the secret treasure, which was why Sousuke wanted its power. In their cursed form, the Aizen clan lost themselves in the power, but the treasure could help them to retain their senses. Aizen was bitter about the death of his clan, so he planned to perfect his cursed seal and avenge his fallen clan

"So that's why…" Naruto gritted his teeth, "he wanted to avenge his clan."

Shiomitsu Hakurei nodded. "Yes, Naruto-sama… a fool's revenge. While I was angered by Aizen's actions until now… I still can't comprehend why that boy wanted to avenge his clan… a clan that had fallen so far for power, to the point they had sacrificed their children."

Or maybe the Aizen clan, from the very beginning, had always had a twisted sense of love. Hakurei had to berate himself and his brother for not noticing that. Sousuke, as a child, had always childishly claimed his late parents loved him so much. For Aizen's, the gift of power was probably proof of their parental love. They were all… broken humans, scorned for their tradition and instead of fixing their error, they strived to fall deeper.

Naruto shook his head, "That man is dead…" For some reason, he felt unease when he declared someone's death, his first kill. "What about… Hinamori, she has been with Aizen for so long… you examined the mind control seal on her right?" Hakurei nodded, "Is there any chance for her to recover?"

Hakurei stiffened at that. "She's asleep now… but when she awoke for a few minutes yesterday… that poor girl, she asked where her little brother was. She was calm… very calm… then suddenly, she cried and begged for her brother to forgive her…"

Hinamori was a war orphan, her village having been destroyed in war. Hakurei didn't know the details, but apparently her little brother had been very sick, and Hinamori had nursed him for days while their parents worked in the field. She'd gotten bored watching him and had decided to play with her friends, so she left her sleeping brother to play for a while with hopes she would make it back before he woke up. Their house was hit by a stray fire jutsu, her little brother was killed in that fire along with their parents, and she was the sole survivor. She was then taken to Konoha severely traumatized by the tragedy.

Aizen adopted her and turned her into the formidable seal master she is today. It's likely Aizen's control over her had lasted so long, the memory disappeared and left her to be molded to Aizen's liking. The sick bastard had dared to claim that he had raised her with the affection she needed, and that was the reason Hinamori had recovered from her trauma. It gained him a lot of support and sympathy, which solidify his position as division leader. The chance of recovery after under mind control seal for so long was almost nonexistent.

"So… her mind was broken," Naruto muttered sadly. The Hinamori he knew might have never even existed, and just been an illusion done by Aizen. "There's got to be a chance to undo the damage." He gritted out. "There's got to be…" he repeated determinedly.

Hakurei didn't dare utter even a word to refute Naruto's conviction, he just hoped with time Naruto succeeded or accept sometimes it was wiser to give up.

The next day, they attended the funeral for Tori and his ANBU team. Hokage comforted Naruto who, even though he shed tears, didn't say a word in front of their graves. When asked why he was so quiet, Naruto answered with a smile.

"I've already told Tori everything I want to say… I'm sure he is telling his squad that I love them." He closed his eyes. "He's probably congratulating his squad right now for a job well done, because they protected me till the very end… He knows I'm grateful for them, and I know… they're very proud of me."

Itachi and Shisui couldn't help but smiled when they heard him, especially because his headband was tied on his forehead now. That was the first time Naruto was wearing his Konoha headband. He was no longer unsure of his allegiance, just like those who had passed on with pride for him and Konoha, he was Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha. And he was... no longer alone.

* * *

**Before anyone protested about Aizen was over-powered and so on. Aizen was probably stronger than Juugo, because he could control his cursed seal form perfectly and he got power boost to boot. Itachi was strong but he was a newbie ANBU at this point and not ANBU Captain with Mangekyou Sharingan, who slaughtered his clan single handedly at 13.  
And YES, Aizen Sousuke in my story belongs to the same clan as Juugo. They were both original carrier of Cursed seal... there's not much background of how Juugo was born with that condition, so I saw a chance to write a story of my own about the 'origin' of cursed seal. Hence, why Aizen was found dead and suddenly alive again in wooden coffin like Sasuke did to achieve his level 2 curse seal.  
**

**Just to confirm one thing, I 'did' read about Juugo's info about his cursed form and sage transformation. Sorry that I didn't elaborate it, but the demon implantation on Aizen clan is the same as Toad's oil from Myobokuzan, it serve as catalysis to trigger the sage transformation. I would have explain in detail but it kind of hard since Naruto at this point want to know about Aizen's vendetta against Shiomitsu, rather than details of Aizen clan's technique... He will know later but at that point of time he didn't need to know. Aizen is DEAD anyway **

**I am sorry you have to endure background story of OCs or rather Aizen and Hinamori in my story, but it would be stupid of me to just leave you guessing how the hell they ended up like that. You guys could dislike OCs, but when it comes to Naruto I could be careless as long as they were in the sidelines. There's a lot of characters in Naruto but they're all have little development if not a very minimum info such as their look, rank and division. What's the difference with OC in that case? **

**About the birthday party, don't worry... we'll celebrate it later. Poor Naruto ;_; **

**As for Naruto's power level now... hm, I will say he is not as strong in term of physical power as canon Genin Naruto because he is much younger. But he is a more balanced and skilled shinobi. As a combat seal master he has an unorthodox fighting style. He is also not 'completely' helpless in genjutsu because he has Kurama to watch his back like Gyuuki did Killer Bee. Since he is used to fight older and stronger sparing partner, Naruto rely more on his kage bunshin, weapons, and seals. So don't be disappointed that for now he is _not_ a front line fighter, in fact in later years I am expecting him to develop a very different fighting style as his canon counterpart. **


	8. 8th Legacy

**8th Legacy: The Tower and the Uchiha **

**"I think that... the one thing Naruto-kun fears the most after losing the people he cares about is...  
to see everything he's sacrificed – his parents, childhood, friends... all be for nothing."  
**Uchiha Itachi

**Hospital, a day after the funeral.**

Believe it or not, Jinchuuriki were not infallible beings as far as the bijuu-enhanced healing properties and poison immunity went. Naruto was well aware of that truth since the bijuu had no intentions of deluding his jinchuuriki about their mortality. While it was true bijuu could heal almost any injuries from cuts, broken bones, and even organ ruptures, they couldn't save their jinchuuriki from grave wounds on the level of a destroyed heart or a missing head, and definitely not if someone had a way to disintegrate their body completely, as Kurama put it jokingly. Missing limbs or eyes or the likes had never happened to his previous jinchuurikis, so Kurama had no idea if he could regrow it. Though the fox was sure he could reattach it if Naruto was lucky enough to have not completely lost the limb. Naruto vehemently refused to test that theory.

Poison was tricky stuff, according to Kurama, since he had to be aware of it, otherwise it would go left untreated. While the bijuu was confident he could prevent Naruto from dying of poison, he couldn't prevent Naruto from feeling the headache, nausea, and other symptoms if the poison was strong enough. And some particularly strong poisons would require Kurama to 'burn' it out of his system. When Naruto had asked Kurama to test it using a mild poison, the cut had healed in record time, and the poison had evaporated from his wound, though he'd found the burning sensation to be very unpleasant.

So Naruto had made it clear he disliked being poisoned, because burning it out of his system was a bitch.

So when Naruto found out a unique tasting jelly was laced with poison, he was pretty pissed. He was sweaty from head to toe, and he looked like a cooked crab fresh from the pan. When Shisui and Itachi secretly visited him, they were pretty surprised to see an irate Naruto who looked like he had visited a sauna. "Some fools poisoned the jelly," he muttered as he slammed a privacy seal tag Hakurei had given him on the wall. By the time he had noticed the poison, a spoonful had already made it into his digestive system. It had been a mild poison, but because Kurama knew it would pissed Naruto off, he had burned it out of his body.

**'Next time be more vigilant!'** Kurama hissed in the back of his mind.

'I'm sorry...' Naruto rolled his eyes. If he wanted to be _that_ cautious, he'd have to revert back to his diet of Ichiraku ramen and wild plants. Though no one had been foolish enough to poison him outright back then, there had always been a risk from the food he'd bought.

Shisui gritted his teeth, "Damn..."

Naruto shook his head, "let it be..." He deadpanned as Itachi handed him a towel to wipe his sweat. "I should've noticed when I saw the nurse who brought my meal looking a bit dazed." Villagers usually limited themselves to doing things that wouldn't get them arrested and/or killed most of the time, but some were brave enough to try their chances, though very rarely.

"Genjutsu," Itachi drawled with a sigh. "Is this the first assassination attempt on you?" he asked curiously. Normally, he wouldn't feel any curiosity for an attempted assassination on his friend's life, but from how deadpanned Naruto's response was, the Uzumaki cared even less than he did.

Naruto shrugged, "Nah... Poison is the easiest and safest way to assassinate me since it's hard to trace, and not even ANBU is paranoid enough to check sealed cartons of milk or instant ramen. Besides, mild poisons only give a jinchuuriki a slight headache or stomachache." He shook his head, imagining a store clerk using a syringe or the likes to inject poison into his groceries. His ANBU guards had never worried of him dying from poison with justified reason, of course.

"I see..."

"Then again, Tori's squad knew my mother and the Uzumaki clan's bad habit of eating stuff that could cause indigestion in normal people..." A habit he had unfortunately picked up. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd drunk spoiled milk before he found out about his jinchuuriki status. Kurama hadn't helped because he'd thought it was hilarious and believed his jinchuuriki should learn for himself, but luckily, it did wonders for his immunity.

The general shinobi population should have known trying to kill a jinchuuriki with poison was futile, especially since no jinchuuriki had ever been recorded of dying of poisoning. No bijuu, including Shukaku, condoned death by poisoning since it was the stupidest way to die according to Kurama. "My status allows me to be careless of what I eat, though I recommend you don't eat in public with me."

Shisui buried his face in his hands. "I can't believe you're talking about an assassination attempt like it's the weather," he muttered in disbelief.

"You want me to bitch about it, Shisui?" Naruto asked out loud. "I'm sure my milk was poisoned from time to time when I was a baby." He raised his hand in placating gesture when he saw Shisui, and even Itachi, looking ready to snap. "It was intentional, a tradition practiced on Uzumaki infants to build up immunity... not an assassination attempt. So basically, I'm more immune than an average shinobi... or even jinchuuriki." He titled his head to the side, "I'm sure Yuzuriha and Tokusa have poisoned my meals, as well as their own, from time to time." Shisui looked ready to scream murder, but Naruto stopped him. "It's a custom from Uzu, and actually not that uncommon in some royal families."

Itachi sighed at that, "I'm speechless..."

"Kurama is wondering why you didn't just grunt a 'hn' instead of announcing your speechlessness," Naruto informed them with a grin.

Itachi and Shisui looked at Naruto in disbelief, "Who?"

Naruto chuckled softly. "I am talking about my tenant."

"You speak to that _demon_?" Shisui asked. "You speak to the _Kyuubi_?" He emphasized the incredulity of the whole ordeal.

"_Him," _Naruto corrected, leaving Shisui looking wary. After the incident with Aizen, Naruto believed Shisui had the right to know. It would also lessen Itachi's burden, because he wouldn't have to keep this secret from his cousin. And since the older Uchiha wasn't screaming profanities yet, he was certain Shisui didn't think he was possessed, probably for the same reason Itachi hadn't. Sensor abilities were really convenient.

"I gave you his name because I want you to acknowledge that, while Kurama is indeed a demon and not the epitome of goodness, he's not a mindless, evil entity bent on destroying the world either. He's also not a natural disaster like people in Konoha believe..." he stated in a stern tone, giving the Uchiha no room to argue otherwise. "I trust you, Shisui," he declared with conviction, startling the Uchiha. "Do you trust me?" He knew Shisui was a loyal shinobi like Itachi and how they both were pacifists because of the war they'd witnessed.

Shisui's lips slowly curved up, "You know what... I've always believed that, in spite of how ungrateful most of us are, you've always protected Konoha," he began in a solemn tone. "I don't know if I can trust your tenant, but... I do know your parents entrusted Konoha to you, and I've seen Tori's squad give their lives to protect you and..." He listed on, "Itachi trusts you..." He glanced at his shocked cousin, and had the situation not been so serious, he would've laughed at Itachi's face. "I know my cousin, and he's a better judge of character than I am. I've seen you both put your lives on the line for each other at a moment's notice, but more than anything..." he trailed off, "I trust my friend, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto blinked owlishly at that, "You have a talent for rousing speeches. How unexpected," he muttered with a beaming grin.

The shunshin expert flushed a deep red, "This is supposed to be when you cry crocodile tears because of how touched you are!"

Itachi sighed, rubbing his temple. "Shisui..."

"Nah... I'll pass the crying part," Naruto said dismissively. "At any rate... Kurama doesn't trust you and Itachi," he warned them. The fox would forever distrust the Uchiha name, and though his jinchuuriki trusted the traitorous clan, he would always be vigilant.

Shisui rolled his eyes. "The feeling is mutual," he said nonchalantly. "Are you buddies with him?"

"Somewhat," Naruto said vaguely. "The closest I dare to claim without him throwing a tantrum in the back of my mind is unwilling cell mates. It's hard to trust humans after decades of imprisonment... and in your case, you're related to someone he hates with the fire of a thousand suns."

**_'No amount of suns are hot enough to convey my hatred_**_,'_ Kurama declared in mocking theatrics.

_'Kurama...' _Naruto shook his head mentally.

"Madara..." Shisui breathed out the name of a previous Uchiha clan leader.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "Speaking of that man, there's something we have to tell you, Shisui..."

The shunshin expert cringed when he saw Itachi's tranquil face, because he knew beneath that Itachi was truly angry. "I have a feeling I won't like what you're about to say."

"You won't," Naruto confirmed.

"As you know, eight years ago the Yondaime Hokage..." Itachi told him the conversation he'd had with Naruto last year, and how he tried to convince Naruto of their clan's lack of involvement in the tragedy eight years ago. The blond added his point of view here and there, watching Shisui's frown with worry. "It's unfortunate, but the Uchiha who was responsible for the Kyuubi's attack is not among us, and we have no clue where he is," Itachi finished.

Shisui closed and then opened his eyes, revealing the three tomoe of his sharingan swirling in fury. "I'll kill that bastard..." He hissed murderously, turning to Itachi. "Why the hell hasn't Konoha, or anyone in our own clan, ever tried to find this blood-traitor?! Because of him, we're treated like enemies by our own village!"

Itachi gritted his teeth, "You know our clan! Even though we've denied our involvement, everyone is too ignorant and proud to acknowledge there's anyone out there with the sharingan! That... there's the possibility of a blood-traitor!" Itachi rarely lost his temper, but when he did he had a good reason for it. "I even sorted through our records, looking to see if there was any Uchiha bodies never retrieved or lost eyes..." The Uchiha scion trailed off tiredly.

Naruto, who had been informed by Itachi of the horrifying results, answered. "Officially, the number of Uchiha bodies that were never retrieved from the battlefield is over a hundred." That was from the second and third war alone. "But unofficially... it's unknown..."

"What?!" Shisui shouted. "Unknown?! Shouldn't we keep a track record of that?!"

Itachi shook his head, "It's all because of the third Shinobi war that went on for ten years! Genin with undeveloped sharingan could've awakened it but went missing before it could be recorded, bastard children that no one acknowledged..." he listed the possibilities that caused the record to be inaccurate wearily. "There are so many ways."

"Not to mention our main enemy in that war was Iwagakure..." Naruto added with a sigh. "A majority of our force that fell in that war had to be dug out... you know how Iwa dealt with their enemies."

Shisui scowled at that statement. He had just started academy when the war ended, but his older brother had been one of fallen shinobi in the third war, and even to today, the grave remained just a name without a body. "And after the war, our forces had suffered so many casualties that we couldn't spare the manpower to retrieve their bodies." He repeated the reason his uncle had told him when he'd asked why they'd never received his brother's body.

Letting his temper overrun him here would be pointless, especially if they wanted to accomplish something. He was a bit angry Itachi hadn't said anything before, but he could understand why Naruto wanted to keep it secret. Naruto already had enough on his plate, and to have Konoha's upper echelon hounding him more than they already had was going to crush him. It was truly ironic that, while the whole village was in blissful ignorance, a fourteen-year-old, a twelve-year-old green ANBU, and an eight-year-old genin were the ones who were clued in and trying to do something for the good of their village. Then again, perhaps those upper up folks did know but were doing nothing to defend the Uchiha clan or Naruto from the injustice.

"Should we tell someone from our clan?" Shisui suggested.

Itachi shook his head, "You were screaming bloody murder the moment we told you, and so imagine what the rest of our clan would do... we'd be fanning the flames if we did. The upper echelons of Konoha are also out," Itachi stated sternly. "Since they've done nothing to curb the rumor of our involvement, we can assume two possibilities: they don't know of the stray Uchiha's existence, or they really do suspect us."

"Or worse," Naruto added. "Villagers would be more at ease knowing there's someone they could blame rather than unknown enemies in the dark they never knew of. As the saying goes, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. They could be allowing the Uchiha clan to be the convenient scapegoat to draw the attention of the villagers. Your clan is strong enough to the culprit, and they're part of the village so within jurisdiction... You all can't legally fight back, and the villagers have seen you ostracized. This is political warfare at its finest... a concrete reason to curb the Uchiha's political standing..." He disliked thinking the worse of his grandfather figure and the village, but he of all people had no delusions of the Sandaime being a saint, nor of Konoha having no skeletons in their closet. It was no secret that the Sandaime's teacher, the Niidaime, had held a grudge against Madara and the Uchiha clan, so it was by no stretch of the imagination to conclude his dislike had been passed on to his students.

Shisui gritted his teeth, "Screw politics! We have a bloody traitor out there who can control bijuu – Madara himself or his second coming! We can't afford to worry about politics! The last time that bastard came, we were almost razed to the ground!" he pointed out testily.

Itachi sighed, "I don't think we can just 'screw politics' as you put it, since our village is well on its way of cutting their own limbs if they keep this up..." he muttered forlornly.

"Agreed," Naruto muttered in agreement. "I'm not going to lie, but while my situation and the people of the tower's situation isn't as bad as the Uchiha clan's, we're in a pretty... difficult position right now..."

**_'Yeah, and Shukaku is a bit sandy... '_**Kurama muttered sardonically. **_'Or Matatabi is a bit fiery.' _**

Naruto rolled his eyes inwardly at that. "Which is why I'm bringing this topic up with the both of you, because God help me if we can't get out of this next shit storm intact..." There was a dark undertone in Naruto's voice that betrayed his calm expression as he relayed this to the Uchihas.

Itachi and Shisui couldn't suppress their cringe at the rueful look on Naruto's face. "Naruto…" Shisui began, "you're not even out of the hospital yet." Neither were they for that matter. "Maybe we should talk more about this after we're discharged?"

Naruto shook his head, "No… we have no time to wait, because there's disaster on the horizon," he retorted. "For starters, I really hate the formal procedure of medical papers now, and how my fellow seal masters are no masters of stealth..." he moaned. "We were pretty much in critical condition after that battle, and they had to rush us to the hospital or else..." At least they had thought so… After all, finding Naruto and his two surviving friends collapsed, surrounded by so much blood and four dead ANBU, alluded to the search party that they had been on the verge of dying.

"So they had to march through the village in plain sight while carrying us?" Shisui guessed with a frown.

"Yes... but the real problem started in the hospital when the doctors inquired about what the hell had happened to us," Naruto informed them ruefully. "They'd had no choice but to inform the medical staff about the situation, especially when it came to Aizen's true nature... his chakra, how someone (Hakurei's brother) had died because of his clan's enzyme, and so on..."

Itachi frowned, "So... the news about Aizen being a traitor has been leaked now?" Aizen was still Naruto's mentor in official paperwork, so for a traitor to tutor Konoha's jinchuuriki would undoubtedly cause unrest in Konoha. "And they know Shisui and I were involved?"

Naruto nodded, "Not just that... It's no secret half of the tower's inhabitants were avid supporters of Aizen when they thought he was a benevolent leader." Since it was quite a fuss when the position was bequeathed to Aizen, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if a majority of the shinobi population knew about the divided loyalty.

"The Tower may be the core of Konoha's defense mechanism... but half of us are now suspected as traitors..." Even though everyone, including Aizen's men, were equally angry at the dead man. "Hakurei has tried his best... he's checked Aizen's former supporters for evidence of a mind control seal, and fortunately all of them are clean and severely regret ever trusting that bastard, but..."

"But that's not enough assurance?" Shisui guessed warily.

"Yes," Naruto answered with a sigh. "And now they've found out that _I'm_ working in the tower and that the bastard was my ex-master to boot..." he trailed off." Miraculously, this news reached only Konoha's upper echelon and probably a minority of the Shinobi population... "

"Oh dear…" Shisui breathed out. How well the Sandaime could manage to keep it that way was questionable.

"Worst-case scenario: I get removed from the tower – which won't be taken well by the people of the tower at all – on top of them getting the blame for Aizen's betrayal. And if they decided to take drastic measures, the people of the tower will shut down Konoha's defense seal mechanism..."

Shisui blanched at that, "What the hell?! This is the Uchiha's history all over again but on a smaller scale!" Though, the Uchiha's drastic measures would be a coup.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "That's really reckless… There's more to this problem, isn't there?"

"Regretfully, yes," He gritted out. Naruto almost wanted to strangle Hakurei for his stupidity. Even though it wouldn't cripple Konoha permanently, it would deal significant damage to Konoha's defense. Old friend or not, the Hokage and his advisers wouldn't be happy about it. "The majority of the tower's population are refugees from Uzu, and while they've officially been absorbed into Konoha's forces… unofficially, they consider themselves to be doing a favor for Konoha under Uzumaki Mito-sama's order…" Naruto explained grimly. "I had suspected something to be suspicious since Hokage-sama seemed to be keen on keeping me away from them before I was apprenticed, but... I didn't expect this."

"Expect what?"

Naruto face-palmed. While it was understandable he'd been ignorant about how Konoha viewed the people of the tower due to his severe lack of interaction with the village, he still berated himself for being too engrossed in his own problems and oblivious to his surroundings. "They're treated like foreigners, and they act like ones... their loyalty is to an Uzumaki, to me... While Hakurei respects the Sandaime to an extent, his loyalty is to our clan, not Konoha." He buried his face in his hands. "This arrangement was never a problem when Mito-sama was a loyal mother to Konoha, my mother was the same, and Aizen... they had thought that bastard owed them a favor for his position. Hakurei, on the other hand… No matter what the reason, Konoha made Aizen his brother's successor, and the Sandaime closed the case of Sangetsu's mysterious death as terminal illness... add to that Konoha has treated me_, _the son of an Uzumaki, like a pariah for something I couldn't control..."

"Something Konoha should've kissed your feet for you mean?" Shisui corrected with a huff.

He shook his head ruefully at that, "At any rate... both sides are now aware that the tower is unhappy with Konoha and vice versa. They feel they've been condemned and believe Konoha still owes them a lot," Naruto summarized the whole ordeal grossly. "On the other hand, Konoha has just realized they've pissed off the wrong clan, and it's too late for damage control... while they won't start a civil war, people of the tower will, unfortunately, boycott simply to show how much Konoha owes them..."

Itachi gritted his teeth, this was going to lead Konoha to her doom. "A spark can start a fire that burns the entire prairie… this is the beginning of an end. Our village is going to dismember her own limbs," he concluded grimly. "If the tower starts to act openly hostile to our government… those who are displeased with current government will rebel…" It'll be a domino effect, and Itachi had no delusions that his clan – or at least a fraction of it – wouldn't be eager to restore the Uchiha's power in Konoha. "The upper echelon is undoubtedly unhappy that: one, Hokage-sama put you under the tutelage of a traitor, and two, the people in the tower are irreplaceable since seal masters are a scarcity..." Itachi summarized the situation grossly.

Naruto blinked at that, "Scarcity..." he repeated, frowning as that one little fact sunk in. "There's one mostly harmless solution..."

Itachi and Shisui perked up at that, "What do you have in mind?"

Naruto glanced at the Uchihas, "I need both your guy's help as well as Hakurei's..." The man wasn't going to like this solution, but he would go with it for their sake.

**_'I have a bad feeling about this...' _**

_'I wish I could say I disagree with you...' _Naruto thought wishfully. "On a better note, if we can make this work, we'll celebrate that birthday party with cake, candles, song, crackers... I don't care how childish it is if it makes my subordinates happy." He promised solemnly.

* * *

"Old man in a kid's body," Shisui growled out when they were out of Naruto's room, stealthily returning to their own. "Both of you."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "He didn't deserve this," he stated.

"I know," Shisui agreed tiredly. "When I met him I thought I could see you... had the war never changed you." Itachi frowned at that. "It feels like yesterday I saw a kid _trying_ to act mature, and then before I knew it, there was a man in the body of a child..." he hissed regretfully.

Itachi didn't know what to say about that. "Shinobi are people who endure... and we changed." The Uchiha scion felt a little guilty for that, after all when he was three, Shisui and Uncle Obito had treated him like their favorite little brother, but war was never merciful to a child's innocence. Obito had been killed on a mission, and Shisui had lost his older brother, then Kyuubi had attacked their village. And before Shisui knew it, Itachi had become a full pledged shinobi and no longer a little brother he could pamper.

"At least when you're eight years old, you were the talented heir of the Uchiha clan who shouldered our clan's expectation... and you succeeded," Shisui stated ruefully. "Naruto has to face all of this… He should only have to think of how to achieve his dream of living up to his legacy... a simple dream all heirs have, not think of how to prevent a political shit storm that could spark a civil war!"

The prodigy shook his head, "Naruto-kun's life has been devoted to Konoha since he was born..." he muttered forlornly. "I think that... the one thing Naruto-kun fears the most after losing the people he cares about is... to see everything he's sacrificed – his parents, childhood, friends... all be for nothing."

* * *

**Hokage Tower**

Hakurei would always be loyal to the Uzumaki clan, but specifically to Uzumaki Naruto. He was, after all, the boy who had inherited Mito-sama's and Kushina-sama's will. Things he'd always admired about them was their drive as seal masters and unmoving loyalty, though the latter was unfortunately against the boy's wellbeing. It took a saint mentality to survive the mental abuse this village had condemned the young jinchuuriki to. Unlike the ignorant villagers of other hidden villages, Uzushiogakure hailed a jinchuuriki as a hero. Contrary to what was widely believed in the Shinobi world, Mito-sama wasn't the first Uzumaki jinchuuriki of a demon, bijuu or otherwise. Some demons were strong enough to require a human vessel in order to seal them, and those who volunteered to be a sacrifice for the ritual were seen as a hero of Uzushiogakure.

He could never comprehend the foolishness of those who condemned a jinchuuriki to a life of isolation, it was like stepping on a landmine repeatedly.

But for his young master's sake, Hakurei would honor Mito-sama's wish to protect Konoha like they would Uzushiogakure. He, however, would make it clear that Konoha owed Naruto-sama more than they already did.

Naruto sometimes wished he could lead a normal life, well, as normal as a shinobi's life could be. Though that wish had been rendered impossible since the very first hour of his life, because he was made into a jinchuuriki. The Sandaime had definitely tried, but the old kage had failed spectacularly by informing the general populace of his situation. There was no point crying over spilled milk that had become sour, he just hoped he could make this plan work.

"So why did you unseal the treasure, knowing there was a possibility that you could have been unleashing a terrible being?" Homura, the former teammate of Sandaime, asked. "Genin Uzumaki?"

Naruto took a deep breath, "As written in our report, ANBU failed to catch Aizen Sousuke off guard, and he was holding Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui hostage knowing they're dear friends of mine." He would have added Hinamori, but someone who had been under the control of Aizen would be an unfavorable mention. "I'm a proficient seal master but also a mere inexperienced genin level shinobi…" Admit your shortcomings, but don't let them deny your expertise. "Had I foolishly denied Aizen, he would've resorted to more desperate measures, and even I could see that man was not in his right mind," he stated firmly, knowing no one could refute Aizen's unstable mind.

"I see..."

"He would have killed the hostages and myself, but had the situation resorted to sacrificing ourselves to end his ambitions, I would have..." He lied smoothly, ignoring the rueful look on the Sandaime's face. He wouldn't have really sacrificed Itachi, Shisui and his ANBU guards, and he had said as much, but these people didn't need to know that. If they slept better at night believing they knew how fiercely loyal Konoha's jinchuuriki was, it would curry their favor to him.

"Aizen could have tried to power the seal with his malicious chakra, and if we were lucky, it wouldn't have affected the seal at all, but considering the nature of the seal was that of the Shodaime's mokuton chakra... It could have caused an overcharge of the seal because of the corrosive nature of Aizen's chakra. The seal would have spontaneously combusted... and the damage on the Tower would've been inevitable." He let the implication sink in of how disastrous it would've been had Konoha lost the Tower. "I chose to take another risk. I unsealed the treasure for him and attacked him when he was distracted." And it worked, no one could deny that. "I was careless..." Admit your shortcomings, don't deny it or it could be used against you. "Hinamori-san was used as a puppet of Aizen... one that remained active even when I inflicted significant damage on him." A legitimate reason to fail that even ANBU had missed.

Koharu squinted her eyes at the young seal master, but he showed nothing that betrayed their image of him: a prodigy tempered with discipline and completely devoted to the Hokage to repay the privilege that had been granted generously to him. No longer was he the boisterous child he had been. "Very well... I can see your choice as the wiser one with minimal damage. The ANBU squad would have survived had they been more skilled..." Naruto suppressed the urge to clench his fist and gave the councilwoman a rueful smile. "And you resealed the treasure along with that traitor... "

He nodded solemnly, "Yes... Hakurei-shishou has examined the seal himself, and we'll do everything in our power to double the security of the forbidden treasure. And maybe we'll find a way to safely destroy it soon..."

Homura cleared his throat. "That's assuring," he muttered skeptically, "but this report of yours." The man tapped his finger against the manila folder Naruto submitted a day before. "It implied _you_ commanded a squad of ANBU – the very same squad Uchiha Itachi was scheduled to join in a few weeks – and Uchiha Shisui against Aizen."

Naruto frowned at that. "It's true that it was me who relayed the plan to Itachi-senpai, but it was Nezumi's sacrifice and Tori's protection of me that allowed me to finish the seal..." he muttered ruefully.

"That required your special chakra..." Sarutobi finished in stern tone. "At any rate, we should congratulate your coming of age... according to Uzumaki tradition. Congratulations, Naruto-kun, you've lived up to their legacy..."

He bowed in respect toward the old kage. "Thank you for your kind words, Hokage-sama..."

Hakurei nodded approvingly, his young master had done well. He watched as the Hokage and his two advisers exchanged looks of approval, and though the Hokage looked a bit reluctant, there was no ignoring Naruto-sama's potential. He cleared his throat. "It will soon be two years since the beginning of Naruto-kun's formal training as a seal master, and he has surpassed our expectations and completed his basic and intermediate seal levels with flying colors," He informed them proudly. "So it is with pride I declare his apprenticeship fully completed."

He ignored the displeasure on Sarutobi's face; his old friend must have thought he was putting too much of a burden on his young master. Sarutobi was wrong in that account, but he had no desire to correct the old kage. "He's a full-fledged seal master now, but of course, while he has the right to continue research on his own, I will supervise Naruto-kun whenever he needs me," he assured them cordially. "At the rate he's advancing at in the art of sealing, give it three – no, two years... and Naruto-kun will be ready to take an apprentice of his own."

Their eyes widened at that, and Hakurei let himself bask in their incredulous stare. Obviously, they knew nothing about the formal education of the sealing art. The Uzumaki clan was born for this art, and formal education only covered basic and intermediate materials. Those were usually completed in four years by Uzumaki clan members, and Naruto had begun that nearly three years ago. Hakurei was well aware of how his young master abused kage-bunshin no jutsu in learning their arts, but he saw no reason why Naruto-sama shouldn't use every advantage he was given if the headache was worth it.

"Surely you jest," Utatane Koharu accused him.

Hakurei shook his head, "I dare not to jest about something like this, it's been this way since the founding of Uzushiogakure..." he stated firmly, leaving no room for arguments. "Which leads me to my second request..." he trailed off. "As the leader of the sealing division, I cast my vote in favor of his promotion."

They looked hesitant for a moment, but Naruto was well aware the only one who was truly hesitating to promote him was the Hokage. The old kage was worried, and Aizen's betrayal left him guilty and wanting to refrain from putting too much burden on him by promoting him. His advisers, on the other hand, would put the good of the village before his qualms, and if anything, be relieved that Konoha was not left behind in terms of strength because of their jinchuuriki. The awakening of his special chakra would further solidify their opinions on his advancement; not to mention, Hakurei would be pleased.

Homura raised his right hand. "I, Mitokado Homura, approve Genin Uzumaki Naruto's promotion to chuunin." Sarutobi looked at his teammate in disbelief, but quickly turned his attention back to Koharu who followed Homura's example.

"I, Utatane Koharu, approve Genin Uzumaki Naruto's promotion to chuunin..." she muttered in a solemn tone.

Naruto could tell his grandfather figure was inwardly bristling and disapproved sacrificing him for the good of the village even more. However, they _had_ to – they _needed_ to approve his promotion or else. "Hokage-sama..." Hakurei began, and Naruto hoped Hakurei could deliver what he'd asked of him perfectly, or the point of this meeting would be moot. "Naruto-kun strives to be a formidable combat seal master." He gave the old kage a curt nod, his eyes unwavering under the hardened gaze. "And for that he needs field experience. I wish to help my young seal master achieve his fullest potential for the good of our village."

"He is young," Sarutobi stated.

Hakurei rolled his eyes inwardly, the old monkey was as stubborn as ever. "Hatake-kun was six when he became a chuunin." And he couldn't claim that Naruto was different or less talented, not after Aizen's incident, Hakurei thought.

"We're not in war now... There's no reason to push a young child into advancing so quickly," Sarutobi muttered, glaring at the old seal master.

Hakurei snorted inwardly. "There's no reason to deny a young prodigy advancement. If anything, that's more reason to let Naruto-kun be promoted..." he stated firmly. "Times are peaceful... Less dangerous missions are perfect for Naruto-kun to grow at his own pace..." Then he turned to the advisers, "Mitokado-dono and Utatane-dono approve... "

The old kage seemed to be firm in holding his ground, but he knew he was losing. One more push was all it needed unless he wished to be alienated. "Hokage-sama..." Naruto's voice broke his glaring contest with Hakurei, much to his chagrin. "I understand your worries about an inexperienced genin such as myself," Sarutobi flinched guiltily, "however, I wish to improve as a combat seal master. I realize my folly of staying in the tower, severely neglecting my in field experience as a combatant..." He clenched his fist. "I'll not refuse placement on any team of your choosing, Hokage-sama. Konoha _needs_ capable seal masters, and I wish to fill that role."

For all the lies and suffering the old Kage had caused, Naruto knew that Sarutobi loved him. It was unfair to use that feeling, but life never was, especially a shinobi's. "Very well..." Sarutobi closed his eyes, "I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage approve of Genin Uzumaki's promotion to Chuunin rank. May your will of fire burn fiercely for Konoha..."

Naruto bowed deeply in respect, "Thank you Hokage-sama... Mitokado-sama, Utatane-sama... I thank you for giving me this opportunity, and I vow to devote myself to Konoha and the will of fire," he vowed solemnly.

He opened his eyes slowly, gazing at Hakurei and the old kage. With this he was one step closer to achieving his purpose, and he clenched his fist in anticipation. "Thank you, Hokage-sama," Hakurei muttered, "You have our gratitude for this..." He trailed off. "In light of Naruto-kun's promotion as a chuunin and full-pledged seal master, I would like to extend an offer to the village as a whole to learn sealing arts...anyone you recommend is welcome into our tower. Foundation subject tests are still required, but those who fail will be given supplementary lessons until they're deemed qualified to start the basic. Afterwards, if they wish to go further, they would be given a personal teacher to supervise their future research on advanced seals. Those we deemed qualified would be offered apprenticeship right away..."

Their eyes widened in disbelief. Did the proud Shiomitsu Hakurei just give Konoha what they'd been asking for since Mito's passing, on a silver platter?

"That's wonderful news."

Surprisingly, Koharu was the first to regain her voice. It felt like just yesterday when Jiraiya had been kicked out of the tower as soon as he'd mastered the basic of the sealing art – which was the most the people of the tower allowed an outsider to learn from them. And to get even that much, they had to test his knowledge on the foundation subjects of fuuinjutsu and get a recommendation letter from a member of the tower. Even those who managed to pass the required qualifications weren't guaranteed to pass the formal education. The clans in the tower were willing to share foundation knowledge, but anything beyond that was guarded jealously. Minato had been a special case, not everyone was a talented prodigy and lover of Uzumaki Kushina. Not to mention Minato's father was a close friend of Hakurei and Sangetsu. As Jiraiya said, his blond student was a lucky bastard when it comes to sealing art.

Hakurei suppressed his urge to grin. While it pained him to share the centuries of knowledge Uzushigakure had achieved with blood, sweat and tears, he knew the result would be worth it. This was just the start, his young master wouldn't do anything half-way. Konoha would be forced, kicking and screaming, into acknowledging their ignorance and where they truly belong! Beneath his young master's feet!

Naruto rolled his eyes inwardly at the slight twitch of Hakurei's hand. The old man must be thinking something about putting Konoha in their place again. It seemed it would take a while to make the people of the tower view Konohagakure as their home. But for now, whatever ploy Hakurei thought he was cooking up for the sake of his people, it would serve to better the cause.

"And another proposal we would like to offer..." Hakurei began grandly, undoubtedly having no intentions of letting the three veterans recover from their short episode of stupor. "…courtesy of Naruto-kun and Uchiha-dono."

Naruto didn't miss the slight twitch of Koharu's and Homura's eyes when they heard about the Uchiha's involvement, especially since it reeked of 'ostracized clans should stick with each other' political strategy. Itachi had informed Naruto that his father was quite floored by the proposal, but the Uchiha clan was grasping straws trying to maintain their noble status nowadays, so the prospect was too good to pass up. Naruto himself had written the proposal to Fugaku, though the stamp was Hakurei's. His retainer was unhappy to involve the Uchiha's, but he couldn't deny they owed Itachi and Shisui nor that it would benefit both the tower and the Uchiha clan. Naruto was also glad that the three students of the Niidaime always tried to hide their prejudice against Uchiha clan; after all, they had to show a united front regardless of the bad blood with the Uchihas. They couldn't reject the proposal without legitimate reason.

Sarutobi, to his credit, managed to find his voice before his old teammates did. "What is it that... you would like to propose, Hakurei-dono?"

Hakurei didn't bother to conceal his smile as he placed a bundle of papers on their desk, a pile for each of them. "Much to our chagrin we haven't really updated our security seals for a long time... due to many unfavorable factors..." He cleared his throat. That was one way to describe status quo between the tower and Konoha's government. "While we have a borderline perfect barrier to detect enemies, we have a very standard and unconventional method when it comes to intruders... thus, I propose a surveillance system that would incorporate Konoha's Military Police Force..."

"Why the Uchiha's Military Police Force?" Koharu blurted out before she could stop herself. She tried to hide her slip up, but to be honest, her teammates were thinking the same.

Naruto suppressed the urge to snort. He had a feeling his grandfather figure was going to ask them to wait so he could consider the proposal... Well, too bad they wouldn't get that chance. "This surveillance system is to monitor our civilian population, and it's within the Police Force's jurisdiction, is it not?" Naruto pointed out with a genial smile that eerily reminded the old Kage of Minato when his successor was scheming. "They know what goes on within the village better than most... so for this proposed system to work, we need their cooperation," he drawled, blue eyes showing nothing but enthusiasm. "And... Chuunin Itachi has spoken with Uchiha-dono regarding this system, so we have a blue print of the mechanism ready to be installed in our village," Naruto informed them formally.

Homura narrowed his eyes at the young blond. "Without discussing it with us first?"

Hakurei raised an eyebrow at the veteran. "We're doing that now, Homura-dono... developing a proposal is strictly within our jurisdiction. In fact, Mito-sama made it clear in her decree we're not allowed to propose an idea that's still premature." It was a lie of course, at least the part about making the seal and proposal, especially since they had just copied the ancient seal Uzushiogakure used long ago with some slight tweaking here and there. "The discussion with Uchiha-dono was vital in the blueprint, so we couldn't afford to finalize it without his assistance."

Hakurei had to say he was impressed the Uchihas were as dedicated as the tower in their duty. They really knew Konoha's civilian population inside and out, housing, security systems, and so on. While they weren't his favorite clan, both sides had a grudging respect towards the other's professionalism. He didn't trust Fugaku fully yet, but he trusted his heir, and Itachi was very loyal to his young master. If the young man dared to betray Naruto-sama, he would deal with the Uchiha accordingly.

"Well then... should we discuss when to begin this project on a later date?" Hakurei urged them, fully enjoying their shell-shocked faces.

"We never agreed to this proposal," Koharu gritted out.

Hakurei leaned in, "Why not? Pray tell, Koharu-dono... is there a mistake you've spotted in our proposal?"

There was none of course, aside from them not trusting the Uchiha clan to manage the system, and they couldn't voice that out loud. Denying the Uchiha the right to manage it was a foolish move. Especially since said system was within Uchiha's jurisdiction – authorized by Niidaime himself.

Sarutobi sighed inwardly, he had nothing against this proposal to be honest. Who knew, this could probably sate the Uchiha clan's growing resentment about their lack of political prowess? It might bite them hard latter, but rejecting this proposal without a sound reason would make The Tower and the Uchihas more hostile. Alienating both of them would crush Konoha's inner defense, and he was well aware the boycott threat from Hakurei had not been called off yet. The Tower and the Uchiha clan were showing a united front, both aware that Konoha had backed them into the corner, and so were willing to work with each other. And in the middle of that was Naruto-kun, who was fond of his new family and friends. He had shown growing distrust toward Konoha's general population, and refusing this proposal would make it worse. Especially since Naruto saw nothing wrong with the proposal… technically, there was none, but politically...

For a political scheme to rear its ugly head here was unfavorable for their side.

Sarutobi steeled himself as he straightened his back, "Very well... I approve this proposal." From the corner of his eyes, he could see his old teammate's hesitation, but they all knew it would do more harm than good to reject this proposal. "We'll have another meeting to discuss this matter further and to proceed with its actualization."

Naruto felt like a heavy burden had just been lifted from his shoulders, and the world seemed brighter from what it was moments ago. "Thank you, Hokage-sama," he breathed out in relieved voice. Sarutobi almost gasped when he saw Naruto's smile. It was a small, beautiful smile, a smile he hadn't been given since he gave Naruto the apprentice right. His heart almost stopped from the shock but the emotion was quickly replaced with a familiar warmth. The same warmth that occurred whenever he managed to give a shred of happiness to the young jinchuuriki.

* * *

**Uchiha Compound**

Itachi had never asked for anything from his parents and had always been an obedient child who did what they asked unquestionably. He was a prodigious son befitting of the main family of the Uchiha clan. So when Itachi did ask something of them for the first time, Fugaku didn't know whether to be pleased or horrified by Itachi's request. But this was a special occasion. At first he considered giving Naruto a nice set of high quality kunai and shuriken, but dismissed the idea the moment he remembered that the Shiomitsu was a clan of blacksmith. There was no way he could get some with higher quality in the market than theirs.

While Itachi would never admitted it, he was well aware there was some sort of rivalry between him and Shisui with the Shiomitsu siblings when it came to Naruto. He wanted to give his best friend a memorable present, especially since this was the first time Naruto had celebrated his birthday. The last few days had been hectic, but thanks to Naruto's quick wit, they'd managed to avoid a civil war, while pocketing a favor from his clan no less. His parents had been in a very good mood since then, and it was the perfect opportunity for him to ask for their assistance.

"Do we have anything that belonged to the Yondaime or Kushina-san that could be given to Naruto-kun?" Fugaku repeated his son's request.

Itachi nodded. "Yes, I wish to give him something from them. I assure you that Naruto-kun isn't asking for this personally…" Itachi clenched his fist. "It's just… I want him to have something to hold on to…"

* * *

_"What you can tell me about the Yondaime and a redhead named Kushina?" Naruto asked one afternoon while sitting on a branch of Yūjō no Ki. _

_Itachi stiffened and looked at Naruto, eyes wide. "I…"_

_Naruto shook his head. "You don't have to tell me anything," he smiled sadly before sighing. "This secrecy law really sucks. Just keep it a secret I ever asked…"_

_Itachi cut him off with, "The Yondaime was a calm, collected, and perceptive shinobi…" Naruto stared at him in shock, and for the first time since he met the blond child, Itachi saw under his calm mask of a prodigal seal master. "He was known for his unbeatable determination and unbelievable drive, something I believe he has passed on to…" _

_Naruto shook his head again. "You should stop there, Itachi. You'll get in trouble if you continue," he warned the Uchiha scion._

_"But more than anything…" Itachi continued, "He deeply cared for and loved his family…" The onyx eyed youth smiled sadly. "When I was four, I remember seeing him tackle my father because he was so happy about a new addition to his family…" _

_"… Is that so?" Naruto muttered, tears starting to pool in the corner of his blue eyes. _

_"Kushina-san was a friend of my mother. She was renowned for her beauty and prowess as a kunoichi. My mother said she had a temper and was fearless, so it was a big surprise to see Kushina-san worried about labor pains like most women." Itachi took a deep breath. "She was very kind… and I'm sure she would be a loving mother…" _

_Naruto smiled at that. "I think you can stop now…" He looked as though he was barely holding back tears. "You've told me enough… I'm sorry to have troubled you with such a selfish question."_

_"It's not…" _

_"I think it is," Naruto corrected. "It's troubling, isn't it? If you continue I'll be too greedy for my own good," he muttered, wiping his tears away and slapping both of his cheeks until they reddened. "Okay! Break's over! Let's get back to training!" And with that, the jinchuuriki sprinted to the nearest clearing to do just that._

* * *

"Very well."

Itachi blinked owlishly at his father. He had been expecting his father to refuse, and then for his mother to attempt to persuade him. "Eh?"

Fugaku nodded. "We happen to have something that was given to us... that I'm sure is inconspicuous enough to be given to the child."

Mikoto eyed her husband in shock. "Dear… could it be you're thinking of that?" she asked in disbelief.

Fugaku nodded. "Yes, that."

"You can't be serious!" She looked horrified by the idea. "That's not something you'd give a child!"

Fugaku shrugged. "Do you have a better idea, because a photo album is definitely out." Mikoto looked disheartened. "So are other obvious things, like Minato's special kunai…"

"Tou-san, Kaa-san…" Itachi called to get their attention. "I assure you he'll treasure anything you can give… he has nothing from his parents." Aside from the demon in his gut which Naruto could fortunately call a friend. "He… he bears so many burdens and has received nothing in return…"

Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other. "Very well…" Mikoto said, giving in as she and her husband stood up from their seiza. "I will fetch it for you, just don't freak out when I tell you what it is," she muttered with a sigh.

Five minutes later Itachi stared at the thing his mother gave to him. No wonder his mother thought it was an inappropriate gift for a child. But then again, it was the thought that mattered, right?

Fugaku cleared his throat as he reentered the room. The clan head handed over a book titled _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_ to his son who accepted the book with a puzzled look. "This is something I forgot to return to a certain blond idiot. Give it to his next of kin."

Itachi nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Of course… Tou-san."

"Also..." Fugaku trailed off uncomfortably.

"Yes?"

"I think your mother should tell you the details of what she was going to give to you," Fugaku muttered forlornly.

* * *

**The next day **

It was a beautiful bird mask with a white base, red and black markings adorning it. However, unlike a normal mask, it only covered half of his face, from his nose up. Together with the mask was a custom-made headband made of black cloth with a red Konoha symbol; it covered his neck, chin, and half of his cheek. When worn together with the mask, only his mouth and a small part of his cheek could be seen. When he received the gift his late ANBU guards had entrusted to Shion, Naruto hadn't expected a mask or the headband at all. The Sandaime Hokage's eyes widened when he saw Naruto putting the mask on, and Naruto didn't miss the grief on the aged Kage's face. The blond narrowed his eyes beneath his mask, it either belonged to his parents or was a replica Tori and his squad made.

Naruto took off the porcelain mask, inspecting the back part and noted there was a small hinge on both side and the bottom part slid down, and the mask turned to be a full cover one. He inspected the pattern next. There was a black triangle with red lining from the bridge of the nose to the temple, while its beak was red. "What bird is this?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Wagtail," Sarutobi answered with a sad smile. "Sekirei... in folklore or Ainu. It's said that they were sent by Kamui to create habitable land in the watery world. A small bird capable of great things..."

The blond couldn't help but smiled at that, "Oh... I see." Was that what Tori and his squad thought of him?

Itachi frowned at that, recalling an old memory from when he was four years old. His mother and Uzumaki Kushina had been talking about names they were planning for their unborn sons. It was so long ago, but he remembered because his mother – or was it Kushina-basan? – had talked about wagtail being her old ANBU mask, and how she was considering naming her child Sekirei if she had a daughter. "Aren't they the sacred birds of the two divine gods Izanagi and Izanami (Goddess of creation and death); for it was through them that these divinities first learned the art of love?" Itachi blurted out.

Naruto and Shisui went wide eyed, while Sandaime coughed. "Love?" Naruto sputtered in disbelief. "Art of love?"

"Well..." Itachi looked very uncomfortable. "Someone once told me wagtails are the birds that taught love to humanity." Kushina had sounded very proud when she told that to his mother, and his mother had gushed at that.

Naruto heard Kurama snort at that and say something along lines of how humanity was pathetic if they were taught how to love by insectivorous birds. "Oh..." Now he could guess whose mask it was, or at least where Tori and his squad had gotten the idea from.

"It's Shinto mythology..." Itachi shrugged.

Then Naruto turned to the Sandaime Hokage. "Jii-chan, is the Ainu's myth right?"

The aged kage smiled at that, "Ah yes... according to the Ainu clan." They were both very knowledgeable, and sometimes he wondered how the two prodigies managed to squeeze time to broaden their horizon with their already busy schedules.

Shisui grinned from ear to ear as he slung his right arm around Naruto's shoulder. "Wow, so... the mask represents a lot of meaning!"

"Don't you dare make a crack out of it," Naruto hissed into his ear.

Shisui grinned at that. "Oh, of course not! Ha ha ha..."

Naruto turned his attention to the pile of presents he received, and to be honest, he was almost teary eyed at the mere sight of it, but he wouldn't hear the end of it from Shisui if he dared to cry. It was the first time in his life he'd seen presents piling like this for him. Normally, he only received a couple of gifts from the Sandaime and his ANBU guards, while Ichiraku gave him free meal coupons.

Sandaime had given him a high quality weapon pouch and kunai holster this year, and the Shiomitsus had given him a complete set of brushes, which were undoubtedly pricey judging from the ornamented box. Yuzuriha and Tokusa were, thankfully, considerate enough to add a brush hanger made of bamboo and a brush carrier made of durable black cloth he could wrap around his thigh like a kunai holster. Other seal masters had gifted him with seal supplies they made personally, shinobi standard undershirts, sweets, or plants. The latter was very appreciated, although Hakurei was torn between being amused and exasperated that the rooftop of their tower resembled a jungle rather than a rooftop from afar.

Shisui had given him a hug, much to his chagrin, before shoving a neatly wrapped present at his chest. Naruto had been really wary of Shisui's grin, as it made it seem whatever was inside was probably one hell of joke. And Itachi... He had to wonder what the Uchiha heir had gotten. Itachi had gone through the trouble of arriving one hour early, only to pass the neatly wrapped gift to him as though it was some sort of secret forbidden scroll. He had then proceeded to tell him that he should keep it a secret if possible with a weird look on his face as he glanced back at the present. What had Itachi gotten into for this secret present?

The cake, thankfully, was edible and was presentable, too, though Naruto suspected Shion had had a hand in helping Yuzuriha and Tokusa. It was a mystery how they were skilled seal masters and decent cooks, yet for some reason, oven and cream pipes never agreed with them. He had taken a few peeks at their experimental cakes, and some looked like charred coals, while the frosting looked like froth rather than cream. A few had also looked a bit demented with bloody fingerprints all over them. He had resigned himself to eating whatever they produced on this day as he was confident that Kurama could prevent the worse.

Fortunately, his fear was unfounded since Shion definitely wouldn't let his cousins attempt to poison their young master, in his birthday at least.

Naruto sighed as he took a plate of macha mochi from the buffet table, then handed it to Itachi. "Eat up, I won't bug you about unhealthy sugar intake today..."

Itachi blinked owlishly at that. "Thanks."

Sandaime raised a graying eyebrow at that, while Shisui laughed in the background.

* * *

A few hours later, after most of the guests went home, Naruto began to unseal presents he hadn't unwrapped yet. In total he had about fifteen as some seal masters had pitched to get a single present, which was why the number of gifts didn't add up to the number of guests. Naruto opened Shisui's present that was wrapped in a blue cloth like some sort of bento, and when he held it up, the present was pretty heavy. He slowly untied the knot, his eyes widening when he saw a pair of geta. He suppressed his urge to scream Shisui's name in rage when he saw that the baka had given him a pair of Tengu Geta. The elevated wooden base was twenty centimeters thick!

**_'He got you there midget!' _**

_'Shut up, Kurama! I'll grow taller than him! It's not fair to compare him with me now since he's in his growth spurt period!'_

Kurama rolled his eyes,_ **'Eh... in case you forgot, he's six years older than you.'** _

_'Hmph!' _Naruto vowed that he would raise hell on Shisui the next time they sparred. So he moved onto the next present, which was from Itachi, and the one he was most curious about. It was wrapped in a simple neat red wrapping paper with a card attached to it. Since this was Uchiha Itachi, the card only had 'Happy Birthday' and his name written on it. Then again, he had already received too many sappy congratulation cards from his subordinates. He unwrapped it carefully, cutting the perfectly lined tape with scissors. Trust Itachi to be a neat freak. Inside was a small brown box that encased the present that Naruto opened. He blinked in confusion when he saw a book titled _The Tale of Utterly Gutsy Ninja,_ which was not a weird present from one bookworm to another, but the other present tipped him off.

It was a small, orange brocade bag with red Uzumaki swirls embroidered on the front part. It took three seconds for his brain to register it as an Omamori (Japanese Charm) and that _Itachi_ had given him a well-wishing gift. Was it common to give this as a birthday present? He wondered as he took the charm out of the box, feeling what was contained inside. He frowned when the tip of fingers felt the contents, something like a bundle of threads and something rectangular made of hard wood. He flipped the omamori so he could see the back pack and froze when he saw the word that was embroidered with red thread on it.

_En-musubi_: acquisition of a mate and marriage.

"Heh?" His brain tried to process that not only had Itachi given him a charm, it was charm for romance. It took a full minute for his brain to reboot.

**_'I think I've seen that thing before somewhere,' _**Kurama muttered in the back of his mind. **_'Aha! Kushina gave that to one of her Uchiha friends years ago! Engagement present or something ha ha ha." _**

"_Kaa-san's? What's inside?" _He knew it was inadvisable to take a peek on an Omamori's content, but he had a feeling whatever was inside was meant to be taken out of the brocade bag. He carefully loosened the rope that tied it, using his forefinger and middle finger to pick up the object. His eyes widened when he saw a small framed photo, a picture from his dream. His father was smiling as he hugged his pregnant mother who sat on a chair, caressing his father's hair fondly. "This is..."

**_'Ho..._**** _How daring of them.' _**Kurama was mildly impressed; those Uchiha could get in trouble with the Sandaime if the old kage found out.

Naruto trembled as his shaking finger traced the photo, a portrait of his family! One that even had him in it, never mind he was still in his mother's womb! The small part of his mind that still held childish mischievousness added that Kurama counted as being in photo as well. It took him only a few minutes to snap out of his musings, because beneath his happiness, fear and anxiety started to surface. If this photo was discovered by someone there would trouble, more so for Itachi. He quickly put the photo back inside the brocade bag, albeit reluctantly. He'd have all the time in the world to look at it later once he created a good seal to secure it. His mind browsed through all the genjutsu, security and durability seals he could use.

Kurama rolled his eyes at the whirlwind of thoughts. **_'Stop before you fry your brain~' _**

Naruto ignored Kurama's grumbling, and as he put the photo back, his fingers brushed something smooth with a thread like texture. He carefully pulled it out, blinking owlishly at the content. Suddenly, Itachi's disconcerted face made a lot of sense. His friend had just had his first taste of culture shock.

Well, he'd made it up to Itachi _somehow_.

His eyes were drawn to the tengu geta Shisui had given him, and in spite of his maturity, Naruto still had the curiosity of an eight-year-old boy. And since nobody was looking, Kurama aside of course... he put the geta on. Standing at his full height, he began walking around in his living room, staggering a bit as he came to a conclusion. "Maybe I shouldn't kill Shisui for this joke, in fact... I owe him one," he muttered thoughtfully.

He'd have a full day tomorrow to practice wearing these thing by himself, because Itachi and Shisui had a family gathering tomorrow if he recalled correctly. Now, if only he could figure out a nice sound absorbing seal to reduce that clap-clop sound or learn how to walk silently on these geta they would be perfect!

That night for the first time since Aizen killed his ANBU guards and broke Hinamori's mind, Naruto had a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Now... I think 'FORGET THE TIME SKIP OR NO TIME SKIP' since it doesn't matter much anymore rather than would I let Uchiha Massacre to happen or not, we all seems toward HELL NO. And for your info the latest political move is a temporary solution, it's not stopping the isolation Konoha condemned to Uchiha at all... and the suspicion is still there.  
**

**Before anyone protested Naruto's promotion is a sign of him growing overly strong, hell NO. Even in canon, who got promoted when Naruto, Sasuke and Neji didn't make it? Shikamaru who shows he has tactical mind, know his limit and one of the weakest in term of strength. Making it to Chuunin as far as I concerned is not a sign of power, or at least not 'always' raw power and physical skill. You also have to note Naruto is a specialist in this story, he is smart but his experience is real battle is just once with Aizen. He is not a frontline fighter like Itachi and Shisui, at this point he'll do well as a support type.  
**

**In conclusion, he is promoted for the same reason as Shikamaru in canon. And regardless what Sandaime feels, it's not right to keep their jinchuuriki holed up in the tower as a researcher. Bijuu are given to each village to stabilize balance of power by Shodai, Naruto won't be a secret forever to the world and like it or not they needed him to be strong as representation of Konoha's strength. Naruto is also a combat seal master, and The tower just opened a chance for Konoha to gain more skilled seal masters, it would be stupid if Konoha keep one of their rarest asset in the village without field experience. I aim for a realistic progress in power and skill for Naruto, though standard in Naruto's world is unrealistic already considering Kakashi is chuunin when he was six. **

**At any rate... I hope you can understand that Naruto's promotion is justified though with politic backing unfortunately. Life is never fair to him anyway~ **

**Next chap, Naruto is completing his fighting style LOL **


	9. 9th Legacy

**Hi Dear Readers! Forlorn Storyteller here, and I present to you my 'Ninth Legacy'  
That's one good news, the sad news is... ****Supreme Dream** is getting busy so she can no longer beta this story for us. ;_; 

**So... who is up for the job? Sad to say but I probably will delay next chap ****update ****until someone volunteer for beta, the requirements are the same.  
I won't ask for perfect grammar and spelling, I just want readable and 'better' than what I do. My beta pointed out I tend to phrase sentence oddly for native English speaker, so you have to rephrase my sentence a lot.  
I also need you to be responsible if you agree to help me, become a beta means you can get early update but please don't abuse that privilege. God knows how many time I got this kind of people, and in the end no news no fixed story.  
You can take as long as you need (as long as it's not next year/month) but do return the fixed chapter in agreed timeline unless there's unforeseeable circumstances that delay you and do inform me.  
If you want to quit, inform me like Supreme Dream did so I am not left hanging like an idiot.**

**Well... that's it and enjoy the story~ **

* * *

**9th Legacy: Bond from Forgotten Legacies**

_"If they chose you to be their master, they're yours to wield...  
I'd rather my family's legacy be in use than just sitting here and collecting dust in this old, abandoned chamber."  
Uzumaki Naruto  
_

Political language... was designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and give the appearance of solidity to pure wind. Naruto had read that from one of his favorite book, and when it came to the politics of a Shinobi village, it couldn't be truer. It was ironic in a sense that the Shodai Hokage had formed an alliance with Madara to build the village – nobly intending to stop conflict between the clans – but in the end, the physical fight had turned into a political conflict, full of underlying political opposition and bribing. Naruto hated all those despicable political issues with the fire of a burning sun. While he couldn't deny a government and military body like Konoha's could live without it, it didn't mean he had to like it. He just accepted it as a part of nature, like a food chain.

**Shimura Danzo.**

Hakurei had warned him that the scarred veteran had been sniffing around them, fearing the tower would become a threat to Konoha. Fortunately, Hakurei was nowhere near as softhearted as the Sandaime when it came to Danzo. The Sandaime _let_ Danzo handle the dark, unmentionable actions that had to be done for the sake of Konoha. Hakurei, on the other hand, had no wish for Danzo's wrinkled hands to be anywhere near his young master or their tower. If there was one thing Hakurei and 'Aizen' ever agreed on, it was that they disliked Danzo trying to worm his way into the Sealing Tower. The old war hawk could snoop around in hell for all they cared, but The Tower was off limits.

Apparently a few months after Uzumaki Mito's passing, ROOT had done the grave mistake of bringing The Tower's wrath upon them. Like any other military organization, ROOT couldn't keep everything they did a secret. However, instead of revamping their security or re-inspecting their personnel, Danzo had dared to steal the **Iwazaru no Fuuin** (Speak No Evil Seal) from the Tower's archive to prevent the information leakage of his organization. The Tower had been furious when they'd found out and had demanded the Sandaime execute Danzo, but it was denied because of the lack of evidence. The Sandaime however was wise enough to _officially_ disband ROOT to appease The Tower's wrath, much to Danzo's ire.

That was the start of the widening rift between The Tower and Konoha. The Tower, distrustful of Konoha's government, set up another layer of security seals to ward off Danzo. Iwazaru no Fuuin was a complex seal that keyed into his chakra signature to control his subordinate's speech, and it was easy for seal masters in the tower to ward their place by triggering the seal. If any ROOT member marked with Iwazaru no Fuuin came anywhere near The Tower's ward they would be paralyzed – just like if they tried to speak anything about Danzō – rendering them unable to speak or move.

The old war hawk had been infuriated when he'd found out The Tower created a seal that responded to him and his men. Since then, Danzo had held a grudge against the tower for the humiliation it had done to his person and organization. Which was why even though Hakurei was a loyal vassal, and he wasn't hesitant in relaying Danzo's work to Naruto. Regardless of how unsightly it was for the eyes of a young child. The Tower might be careless of what became of Konoha before Naruto came, but they were not ignorant of potential enemies such as Danzo. Naruto had to say he had never expected Konoha to be this rotten in their root, and Danzo was the source. From what Naruto had been informed, that man really had no qualms when it comes to Konoha's greater good.

When Hakurei described what kind of man Shimura Danzo was, and what the scarred veteran had done for Konoha, Hakurei asked Naruto what he thought about Danzo. "Hm... he is despicable for sure." An expected response for Hakurei, "But on the other hand, he is such a pitiful person." That one was unexpected however.

"Why do you think so, young master?" Hakurei inquired, "This man was a political enemy of your father, and he is already ours as well..."

Naruto sighed at that, gently closing the book he was reading. "Other than for snooping around and asking the Sandaime to turn me into one of Konoha's emotionless weapons?" Naruto snorted. "His methods aside, that man is _reasonably_ wary because I was tutored by a traitor, while the villagers treat me like I am an unwanted pest _unreasonably_..." he listed on. "Funny isn't it? Of all people in the village, I can't feel offended that a man wanted to turn me into a weapon."

Hakurei sometimes wondered how such a young child could be so rational knowing someone was out to turn his life into a living hell. Then again, Naruto's closest friend was Uchiha Itachi, and Hakurei had seen how they could go on for hours discussing philosophy, history and politics that should be ten years too early for them. If it was his choice, these children wouldn't be burdened by the older generation's mistakes. It was too late to regret it now, however... at this point Naruto-sama had no intentions of backing out, he would fight tooth and nail to earn his rightful place in Konoha.

"All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome," Naruto quoted from the book he'd read earlier. "I think Danzo is a pitiful man so consumed by his own ideals that he's lost sight of what he should believe, just Konoha... _his _Konoha no less."

Hakurei chuckled softly at that, "You're very perceptive, young master."

He shook his head at that, "I'm nothing but a child, but there's a concept I hate most... _Greater Good, _but from what I can see, the Sandaime and his advisers buy into it." Why else would they release his status as a jinchuuriki to the public but not his heritage? "However, Danzo seems _too_ lost it. His greater good is the future that coincides with his wish of an ideal Konoha... the conflict in the land of wood or skirmish in Swamp Country? He brings more harm than good in Konoha and yet he firmly believes in what he is doing... since he keeps doing it regardless of the trail of blood he's leading to Konoha..."

"You seem to have a solid grasp of what kind of man Danzo is, young master..." Hakurei had to say he was impressed his young master managed to get that much just from the information he'd gathered.

Naruto titled his head to the side, an amused smile painted on his lips. "What makes you think I do?" He asked incredulously. "It's merely my imagination of the kind of man who's subjected himself to staging so many tragedies for the good of his village." A man who sold his body and soul for the greater good and in the end lost sight of it.

"A wild imagination but spot on nonetheless..." Hakurei complimented. "But do be careful of this man. He treads through very dangerous territory in his self-righteous ideals... regardless of how pitiful he is." The old seal master murmured in a sardonic tone.

Naruto laughed at that, "I am young, but..." he tapped his temple, "someone inside me is much older than Danzo, and he's seen so many things through the eyes of Mito-sama and my mother."

"Kyuubi-dono has political skill?" Hakurei asked curiously.

"He is a fox of many talents, according to him..." Naruto quipped.

* * *

**Training ground 19**

It was another beautiful day in autumn, calm and windy as usual. Though the calmness was broken by the boisterous laughter of a certain Uchiha. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" Shisui laughed so hard tears pooled in his eyes, holding his side that ached because of the fit of laughter. He was definitely a picture that brought shame to the Uchiha's tradition of stoniness. Not that he cared, hell no, not at all.

Naruto's left eye twitched irately, he knew he looked ridiculous but shouldn't they give him a break? The blond jinchuuriki smiled, though it clashed horribly with the throbbing vein on his temple. "Laugh all you want, Shisui… laugh while you can."

"He heh…" Shisui smiled sheepishly.

Then Naruto glared sharply at Itachi who was as expressionless as ever, but the slight shaking on his shoulders betrayed his stoic face. "And you, Itachi, do you think I don't know you're laughing inside?!" he growled, flushing a deep red.

Itachi cleared his throat, "My apologies… but well…cough! Excuse me." The coughing was a pretty horrible cover; that was the last straw.

They could almost hear the sound of Naruto's patience snapping. "Argh!" The blond boy took it off then threw the green chuunin vest on the floor with more force than necessary. "I've had it with this stupid thing!"

Shisui laughed harder, rolling on the ground. "Ha ha ha! It's not our fault there's no more chuunin vest your size, Naruto… not since Hatake graduated at least!"

Itachi looked at his old vest, he had no hard feelings over it since he never wore it. "Well…" he drawled as he took his vest off of the ground, "mine is probably the smallest Konoha's ever produced since the end of the third war." And probably the last one, too.

Naruto steamed up, "I look absolutely ridiculous in that!" Itachi's old vest was of course, too large for him. While he was taller than the average eight-year-old, he was still shorter than the ten-year-old Itachi. The vest was already one size too big for Itachi when he was ten, so on Naruto it kept slipping from his shoulders. The armhole was twice the diameter of his arms, and the vest reached below his waist. "Forget it! I'm not wearing that thing! Who cares if no one knows I'm a chuunin?" he huffed angrily.

"Eh... we should take a picture of you wearing Itachi's old vest! You looked absolutely adorable!" And the next thing Shisui knew, he saw a kick aimed towards his head. He was pretty sure had he not dodged, the kick would have done damage to his cranium beyond repair, especially since the tooth (wooden base of the geta) had a steel layer on the bottom. "I swear my life flashed before my eyes just now!" he yelled at Naruto who had jumped off of his perch on the tree, and almost landed an axe kick on the Uchiha's head.

Naruto snorted at that. "I'm just testing your present, Shisui," He reasoned innocently. "It feels awesome!"

The older Uchiha blinked, "Oh really? I thought you were going to throw a fit over it."

Itachi frowned at that, "You gave that to him as a joke?" Geta were very agile and nimble footwear for bad roads and steep slopes. It was good for building up one's strength, and Itachi had seen them be used for training in martial arts. Knowing Shisui, the older Uchiha probably gave shoes to Naruto primarily as a joke with the function following second. It was just like Shisui to be so thoughtful but mischievous at the same time.

Itachi kind of guessed Shisui would act dumb. "As an adult we should forgive childish pranks such as this..." Naruto muttered in a faked condescending tone, and Shisui rolled his eyes at that. "At any rate... the height boost aside," Shisui burst into laughter at that, "they complement the fighting style I'm working on," he chirped as he leaned back. For a moment it looked as if he was going to fall, but a skillful spin on the tooth of his geta made him stand back to his full height.

"Great, now he is hooked on that thing." Shisui grumbled under his breath.

* * *

A good shinobi didn't rely on their eyes alone, but at the same time a good shinobi had keen eyes. Many trained their other senses so they wouldn't be at a disadvantage – usually their hearing or sense of smell – however, as long as their eyes were functional, Shinobi relied on their eyes the most. It didn't matter how sensitive their other senses were, if the situation permitted it, shinobi would still use their eyes more than any other senses. There was a reason why doujutsu-bearing clans were hailed in any village.

Naruto, whose sparring partners were geniuses of the Uchiha clan, knew that fact _very_ well. It was annoying how they always seemed to know how to counter him. So when he observed falling leaves, feathers and other light objects, he got an idea. It was a pretty simple idea, and he wondered why no one had thought of it before. Probably because there were simpler methods, such as Maito Gai's insane speed. If you couldn't stop the Sharingan from predicting your next move, just move faster than their body could. Or there was the standard method other hidden villages taught their shinobi when fighting against Uchiha: run away if you're alone, and if you have the advantage in numbers, surround the Uchiha since they had a blind spot as wide as a normal human unlike the byakugan.

His method? Sounded much simpler, but to achieve it one had to be very persistent and perceptive, and fortunately, he was both.

Shisui was very intrigued when he requested a pure taijutsu spar with the sharingan active, after all in that condition Shisui could hand him his ass faster than you could say ninja. So when Shisui dodged his upper cut, the shunshin expert was completely baffled when Naruto landed a solid kick on his waist that was enough to make him howl in pain. Naruto might not be as experienced, skilled, or as fast as Shisui or Itachi, but when it came to brute strength alone, the Uchiha couldn't rival Naruto in spite of his young age.

The Shunshin expert was a bit dazed before he turned his attention back onto his sparring partner. Naruto rolled his eyes to the right and with a sharp jerk, turned his head to look to the right. Shisui followed his example on reflex and was rewarded with a vicious left hook. Naruto somersaulted backwards, putting ten feet of distance between him and Shisui. Both sides charged head on, and looking at Naruto's right foot, Shisui's sharingan predicted a front kick. That was odd, Naruto's strong leg was his left one. Shisui moved his leg, ready to intercept the kick with his own, but his eyes widened when Naruto suddenly came to abrupt halt and ducked to dodge his kick. With his leg outstretched, Shisui lost his balance for a short moment, and Naruto jumped at him. Shisui rolled to the side to dodge and regained his balance.

Naruto smirked when he saw Shisui charge at him, fed up with being on defense. Naruto, who had seen the incoming punch, dodged to the side, however Shisui predicted that move first and spun around to cut Naruto's path with a side kick. Much to Shisui's surprise his kick met empty air, not because he predicted Naruto's movement wrongly but because the blond was slower than his prediction and landed an inch away from his kick. It was a strange occurrence, and he tried to attack the seal master again, eager to land a hit.

Uchiha Shisui was aware that Naruto was faster and stronger than the average genin – the blond was already a chuunin – but his field experience was practically nonexistent. His chakra capacity and stamina were definitely larger than both Itachi's and Shisui's, and most of the time they sparred, his main strategy was dragging the fight as long as possible to wear them down. This spar was exactly that, but Shisui didn't care about winning the spar as much as he cared about figuring out Naruto's new fighting style. Naruto was out of rhythm of his predictions, the seal master either being a bit faster or slower, throwing Shisui off. He raised his leg high in the air and struck with an axe kick, purposely giving Naruto plenty of time to dodge.

The Uchiha's eyes widened when he saw the way Naruto dodged. It was as if the blond was weightless when he jumped away, or rather, it was more correct to say he _floated_ away. It was like Naruto was less affected by gravity his movements were so smooth and light. Every time Shisui tried to hit him, Naruto would dodge it, but Shisui could tell he was uncomfortable when he did so. Naruto was concentrating really hard, as if the feint and light movement were a multitasking ordeal for him.

"Let's stop here," Shisui suggested after half an hour. Usually, sparring that long wouldn't even get Naruto winded, but Shisui could see that even though he was completely exhausted yet, he was definitely frustrated. He was sweating heavily and his breathing was nearly ragged, but it seemed he was more tired in mind than in body. "That was a pretty weird taijutsu style, I've never seen anything like it! You even got a few solid hits on me and I didn't _see_ them coming at all, and when I did, I couldn't react in time."

Itachi, who had been quiet since the beginning of the spar, piped in, "You turned our eyes against us, didn't you?"

Shisui raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Naruto grinned at that as he gave them a peace sign, "He he... that's one aspect of my fighting style!" He grinned from ear to ear, "Sharingan or not your eyes are still human, and they still follow the characteristics of human eyes..."

"I see..." Itachi murmured.

Naruto titled his head to the side, "Well..."

"Wait! Is it okay for you to explain your fighting style to us? I thought you wanted to keep the trick secret?" Shisui inquired.

Naruto shrugged at that, "I want your review on it, Shisui... besides, my fighting style isn't supposed to be a secret from you. Knowing the trick doesn't mean it will be useless against you anyway," he huffed. "Just because you have complete understanding of a jutsu doesn't mean it won't work on you right?" Shisui nodded at that. "Besides... my fighting style is the kind that arouses your instincts, unless you can completely ignore your brain impulses – which is very unlikely – understanding my fighting style won't save you." Not that it was infallible. Naruto, of all people, knew there was no such thing as a perfect style or jutsu.

"Okay..." Shisui relented.

Naruto cleared his throat. "My fighting style revolves around misdirecting your eyes," he began, the two Uchiha listening to him raptly. "Unlike other senses, sight is the most developed sense in humans and also the most instinctive because it dominates around 80% of our perception. There is one set of characteristics eyes follow instinctively... they're drawn to certain strong colours. Red in particular is a colour the brain sees, like many creatures in nature, as a warning."

"Okay... I'm sorry, but you lost me there," Shisui crossed his arms. "I kind of get you used a lot of feints, but it doesn't explain why I didn't _see_ you or couldn't react in time."

Naruto grinned at that. "Oh but it explains a lot about your sharingan... another characteristic of eyes is that they're attracted to fast movements and strong light."

"And what does our sharingan perceive as some sort of light that attracts them the most?" Itachi asked, titling his head to the side in amusement.

"Chakra!" Shisui answered with a huff. "All those attacks that threw me off were faster and had a lot of chakra in them, while the ones that hit me were slower with less chakra!"

Naruto whistled, "Well... there you go, you figured it out!"

Itachi was impressed, this fighting style was based on misdirection but to achieve it was no easy feat. The concept was simple, but the style itself was very complex. "It's very effective against us... or anyone with a doujutsu." He shook his head, "The better the eyes the easier you will fall to this style's flow, you make your opponent dance to your tune."

"Bingo!" Naruto laughed softly, then paused when he saw Itachi's inquiring glance. "Yes that's not all in it, there's three main elements in my fighting style. Two of them are under misdirection, while the third will explain my movement." He cleared his throat, "The second element is still about misdirection, but instead of drawing your attention with chakra and movement, I just non-verbally communicate through eye contact with you." Shisui raised an eyebrow at that. "I know there's a risk of getting caught in a genjutsu, but I have the privilege of a having partner who will solve that problem for me."

Shisui snorted at that. "Yeah right... as if I don't know you use twenty clones every day training in chakra disruption," he grumbled under his breath.

"It's another instinctive thing eyes do," he continued. "If someone looking you in the eye suddenly turns their attention away you look in the same direction instinctively, don't you?"

He recalled he did exactly that when Naruto suddenly turned his attention away from him. "Oh yeah... I did do that."

"It's a very easy thing for Naruto-kun to achieve, because our fighting style and eyes make us instinctively try to keep in eye contact with our opponent. He used that against us..." Itachi explained with an amused tone.

"And the part where you move like there's no gravity on you?" Shisui asked curiously. "Is it a gravity seal?"

Naruto shook his head and bent down to take off one of his jika-tabi (traditional Japanese socks), which reached just below his knees, revealing a seal underneath. The seal was not in a circular array but looked like a vine curved on both ends, glowing briefly with chakra before it disappeared. "This is **Hikou no Fuuin** (Seal of Flight), the principle is quite simple. You know that Akimichi clan technique that affects their body mass and density right? This seal doesn't go to the extreme level of the Akimichi clan, but… yeah, I kind of _float_ in the air when I move, kinda like swimming in the air. But still... I needed more than that to achieve that kind of movement, so I had to add wind element to this seal..." He took a deep breath, "It also allows me to do this." The seal glowed briefly and Naruto jumped, the Uchihas went wide-eyed when they saw him easily jump thirty feet into the air. His fall at first was fast, but it soon became as slow as a feather.

"Wow!"

"What do you think?" Naruto grinned, "Normally, it's hard to focus chakra in your legs, but now I can do it as easy as enhancing any part of my body!" He turned around. "This is actually a bonus I didn't expect, because shinobi who can't fly are usually left vulnerable in the air, but I can think of something good to cover that~"

Naruto had learned explaining with too much technical jargon wouldn't help them to understand better, even Itachi sometimes lost him if he went to too much into details. Shisui whistled, "You look like you're almost flying! It sounds complicated but I get what it does. You're getting better in simplifying your explanations, Naruto!" Shisui grinned.

He rolled his eyes at that, "I got these finished and tested a day after my birthday before I applied it on myself, and man... it works properly, but controlling it is a real pain in the ass," he muttered in a frustrated tone. "There were a couple of times my kage bunshins got carried away by wind..."

Shisui laughed at that, "Really? That must've been a sight to see! Man! I wish I could've seen that!"

The seal master snorted, "I bet you do." He shrugged, "I did put a control seal on it, but for some reason it only controls the level of seal power, and in the end, I still have to get used to it unless I want to lose complete control of my movement."

Itachi looked thoughtful at that, "This fighting style is complex, and since you're not a taijutsu expert... you're forced to think on every step, and I can see after fifteen minutes you get tired of it. You're frustrated..."

Naruto nodded in agreement at that, "So true... But once I finish developing this fighting style, I figure it will much more lethal, especially when I incorporate my kage bunshin. However..." He trailed off tiredly, "To perfect this fighting style I have to get used to it until it becomes second nature to me... there's _no_ way around it. Damn, I really need field experience..."

Shisui whistled at that, "Well... at this point, Hokage-sama will only assign you to C rank mission, and the toughest opponents you'll get in those kinds of missions are wild animals or bandits... or ronin _if_ you're lucky."

The seal master groaned at that, "If I wanted wild animals, I would go to training ground 44! And I doubt Hokage-sama will give me a mission that involves killing anytime soon. Capturing bandits is more probable, but still... "

Itachi shrugged nonchalantly at that, "You can worry about that later, but first..."

"Yeah?" Naruto wondered why Itachi looked so... enthusiastic, by Itachi's standard at least.

"It's my turn to spar with you," he pointed out helpfully with thinly veiled eagerness.

Naruto stared at his best friend, "Give me ten minutes to catch my breath." That glint in Itachi's eyes was a bit scary, because a curious Itachi was a dangerous Itachi.

* * *

The Namikaze clan was an offshoot of the Senjus, though they were not as well known as their main clan. Although at this point in time, you couldn't call the Namikazes a clan as even before Yondaime's death, it had been reduced to one little family. Namikaze Muramasa was Naruto's grandfather from his father's side, and apparently, apprenticed to the same teacher Hakurei and his late brother, Sagetsu, had. Throughout the generations, Namikaze was a clan of blacksmiths and formidable weapon users, but it was Naruto's grandfather, Namikaze Muramasa who started to incorporate fuuinjutsu in his blacksmithing. The man was known as the greatest blacksmith in his generation, powerful enough to fill the honored position as one of the Daimyo's twelve guardians when he was young.

Naruto was ecstatic when Hakurei indulged him of the tales of his old friend. Now that Aizen was off of his back, Hakurei could give him another piece of his heritage. Of course everything that had been told to him was a closely guarded secret, because it went against Sandaime's law. There was a loophole Naruto had discovered to protect his people in tower in case the secret was leaked, but Naruto would keep _it_ for now. He had to say, Uzumaki Mito-sama was an ingenious seal master, and she lived up to the Uzumaki's cunning trait to the core.

He was careful in asking Hakurei about his heritage as he didn't want to pressure the old man too much for his selfishness after all. He wanted to prove to Hakurei that he deserved that knowledge and wouldn't misuse it in spite of his young age. Hakurei was elected as the Seal division leader after Aizen's death. And much to Naruto's chagrin, Hakurei assured the young boy he was just a mere figurehead, that their division was united under Naruto-sama and that it would never change. When Naruto pointed out his inexperience and that he was recently graduated from apprenticeship, Hakurei waved off that concern because he was sure in few years Naruto would surpass him. The only thing Naruto could be grateful for from the whole division leader ordeal was that Hakurei would be the one who would deal with the paperwork.

Speaking of paperwork, Naruto was reminded about Shisui complaining about the paperwork he had to fill out to get his new ANBU ninjato, and how the logistics department had their hands full so needed a couple of weeks to process Shisui's request. Shisui had just recently been recruited to ANBU, a week before the incident with Aizen, and was really upset that he'd lost his ninjato one week after he received it. Apparently in ANBU, that ninjato was a set with a mask, uniform, and tattoo. The said ANBU set was the equivalent of a headband for normal Shinobi, a mark of baptism in their ranks.

Itachi didn't complain at all when the blacksmith informed him neither his nor Shisui's ninjato were repairable, but Naruto could tell he felt the same as Shisui about the loss. Naruto wanted to make it up to them; after all, they broke it when they were protecting him from Aizen. He had a perfect solution for that in mind, though Hakurei wouldn't be happy about it.

* * *

**Uchiha Compound**

Sasuke had always been a curious little boy, and he, like any little brother, was curious about his big brother's life. Especially since his brother was a prodigal Shinobi who seemed capable of doing everything perfectly. It was understandable since he had just entered the Shinobi academy, the first step to getting closer to his brother. However, unlike what he thought of, the experience was not as novel or fun. Everyone seemed to expect him to be a mini-Itachi, but unfortunately, aside from their looks, he was not as talented as his brother. When Itachi was his age, his big brother had mastered his sharingan and graduated from academy. He had become a chuunin at age ten and been recruited to ANBU half a year later. That was a prodigious record he couldn't match.

So he couldn't help but notice that since last year Itachi had become more… cheerful? He didn't know the exact word to describe his brother's change in attitude, but he was not as aloof. Before he couldn't really be open with his brother about his feelings, especially since he had an inferiority complex and was envious towards his brother. It wasn't Itachi's fault, but Sasuke truly wished everyone around him to stopped looking at him as _just_ the little brother of Itachi, and as Sasuke instead.

Today, his class had tested accuracy and Sasuke as usual had managed to get the top score, hitting eight bull's-eyes out of the ten moving targets the academy instructors had set up. He wasn't proud that he hadn't gotten the target right on the mark for the last two, but he had been quite pleased he did better than the rest of his peers. At least, until he'd overheard his teacher saying Itachi had never missed when he'd been in the academy. He was very upset about it, because not even when he did his best did he escape his brother's shadow.

When Itachi asked why he looked so upset, Sasuke was in a daze and said his thoughts out loud. "Everyone is expecting me to be just like you." He quickly covered his mouth in a panic, but Itachi had heard it loud and clear.

Itachi frowned at that before he took a seat beside Sasuke. "I see… so you're upset because you're seen as my little brother but not Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I am proud to be your little brother, nii-san, it's just…"

"It's suffocating position to be in, isn't it?" Sasuke flinched at how bluntly Itachi phrased his situation. "Sasuke… you have your own path, while it's a big brother's job to be a role model for a little brother, it doesn't mean you will become me… everyone in the end grows up to be themselves and no one else."

Sasuke blinked owlishly, "But Nii-san, Tou-san always said that…"

"I guess it's a bit difficult for you to comprehend…" Itachi said as he ruffled Sasuke's black hair fondly, but at the look Sasuke shot him, Itachi quickly amended his words. "It's not because you're young or ignorant, but what I said is going against what everyone's told you." Sasuke titled his head to the side in confusion, his brother was being so difficult to understand today. "I cast such a big shadow over you, huh?" he muttered forlornly. "Hm… you see, a friend of mine saw you in the academy today."

"A friend?" Sasuke echoed, Itachi rarely talk about his friends to his family, if not at all. "A Shinobi? In the academy?"

Itachi titled his head to the side, "Hokage-sama asked him to deliver a document to the academy, and he saw your performance today in an accuracy test."

Sasuke blushed at that, "Uhm… you know? Your friend told you?" he stammered timidly.

The ANBU nodded, his lips curved up a little at the sight of his embarrassed brother. "He said my little brother looked very upset because those insensitive instructors were comparing us."

That was none of his business, Sasuke thought embarrassedly. "I'm not…"

"Well… he was pretty put off by how the instructors were being ignorant of your feelings, and how their teaching license should be revoked because they had no idea how to be attentive to their students," Itachi finished in amused tone. "And I seconded everything he said."

Sasuke stared at Itachi in disbelief, "Your friend is weird, Nii-san. Why would he feel disturbed by my teacher's attitude? In regards to me no less?"

Itachi just shrugged, "He just cares… and sometimes, I think he cares too much." Which was why Naruto was so miserable when a majority of villagers shunned him. It was harrowing to know that Naruto put so much effort into being indifferent to the villager's hatred of him. And even that effort was to protect his sanity, so he wouldn't hurt anyone.

* * *

**The Seal Tower**

Uzumaki was a clan of eccentrics, though coming from the Uchihas that was not an insult but rather a statement. Itachi at first was skeptical and thought it was his clan's bias against Senju and their distant relatives. Although later he found out from Naruto that the Uchiha clan had no room to talk, because apparently the Sage of Six Path's wife was an Uzumaki so actually both Uchiha and Senju were related to the Uzumakis.

Though this time, there was a sliver of truth in that. What else did you call a clan that put their freaking _hair_ inside a good luck charm instead of a paper prayer like normal people did? It was a pretty creepy tradition to Itachi who'd had a bad experience involving fangirls, presents, and hair. There was a reason why he burned all presents from his fangirls. The last time his mother convinced him to at least open one he found a passionate letter from a girl – he didn't even remember existed – confessing her love of him and a hand knitted sweater. Said sweater at first looked well-knitted and normal, but upon closer inspection, there were strands of hair _knitted_ together with the wool. That was the first time he followed the Uchiha's old motto, burn your enemy to death.

True, Uchiha was not one to talk about eccentrics and insanity since it ran in their family as well. Well, they _were_ related to Uzumaki.

According to Naruto, it was another tradition of the Uzumaki clan to not cut their hair, because it was an old belief that hair was closely affiliated with one's life force and energy. Which was true for the Uzumaki clan, the clan of vitality and longevity. Apparently, their fallen hair would turn to an ashen color and lose its luster, and medics said the hair, for some mysterious reason, couldn't be used for DNA tests or anything of the like. Uzumakis, however, could preserve their hair by channeling chakra in it, the same method Naruto used to leave trails like his mother did. It was said they wove hope and wish into their hair and used it as a good luck charm.

But still Naruto was always the one who came up with the craziest ideas, and the worse part? He was dedicated to _all _of them, and won't stop until he see the end of it. Like now…

"This is unacceptable, Naruto-sama! Please reconsider!" Hakurei pleaded as he followed Naruto and his group to the lower lever of the tower.

Naruto sighed, "Hakurei-jiisan, we went over this already… I trust Itachi and Shisui and they have proven themselves in the skirmish with Aizen," he pointed out patiently.

Hakurei averted his eyes, "I acknowledge your approval, Naruto-sama, but it's not that simple! How would I explain this to Hiruzen-dono later?"

"Nah… it's not within his jurisdiction as Hokage, he'll ask questions, but that will risk _me_ asking back dangerous questions he doesn't want to answer," Naruto pointed out solemnly.

He couldn't refute that logic, his young master knew Sandaime well enough. Knowing the old kage, he would just put up with it like he always did. "As long as you know what you're doing… young master."

"I do," he assured the old seal master.

"And if you would please, _Naruto-sama_, indulge this lowly Uchiha Shisui of what could possibly get us in trouble with Sandaime-sama?" Shisui asked playfully and impatiently. He'd been dragged from the lovely training ground to an underground level of the seal tower, and Naruto hadn't even told tell him why. It was not a lovely trip, damn it!

Naruto shuddered, "That's creepy, Shisui! Just follow me and you will find out yourself."

"You're a Shinobi, Shisui," Itachi reminded, "Be patient."

Shisui rolled his eyes, "Hn."

"And here I thought you were adopted..." Naruto grumbled under his breath the moment he heard the infamous grunt.

The older Uchiha snorted, "It seems the grunt is ever more believable than a blood test."

Naruto rolled his eyes at that. "We're here," he said as they stopped in front of an impressively massive door. It was not the shape of the material, in fact it looked like a normal door, but the sheer number of seals that were hazardously placed on the door gave it an eerie look. In short it looked cursed. Naruto placed his hand on the spiral looking device in the middle of the door, the spiral device folded like a fan, and a hole with diameter of an adult man opened on the door.

Itachi and Shisui looked at the hole in bewilderment, they had expected the door to open but not in such a fashion. They were snapped out of their musings when Naruto asked them to follow him. The Uchihas were greeted by the sight of what they thought was the most magnificent and largest armory they'd ever seen. No one could blame them gaping at the sight, for there was a numerous amount of shinobi weapons from standard kunai and shuriken, to fuma shuriken hanging on the shelves neatly. There was even ninja wire categorized by its material, chakra conductivity, and texture. Armors resembling the ones worn by Madara, the Shodai, and his brother (which they had only seen in history books) donned wooden mannequins. Itachi was sure that even the Uchiha's armory wasn't worth even half of this massive collection.

"Oi Itachi~ Shisui~" They were snapped out of their musings by Naruto's voice. "How long do you guys plan to space out?" The two Uchiha looked mildly embarrassed as they started walking to catch up with the blond jinchuuriki ahead of them. Shisui grinned at Naruto, "So your surprise is giving us a new sword?" he asked cheerfully.

Naruto titled his head to the side, "Hm... depends, do you feel anything yet?"

"Feel what?" Shisui wondered out loud.

"Eh... something like a quickening heartbeat or a foreign chakra trying to pull yours in," Naruto described hesitantly.

Shisui shook his head in a negative then turned to Itachi who did the same. "Nothing like that, Naruto-kun."

Naruto shrugged at that, "Well... that could be good or bad," he mused as they walked deeper into the depths of the armory.

Itachi hadn't noticed this before, but the path they walked was not flat but tilted at an angle, and recalling the route they had walked down, it was spiraling downward. The diameter of the tower was getting bigger as they walked on, too. The ANBU realized with fascination that the tower's blueprint must have looked like an upside down twister on elevation view, a Whirlpool, a whirlwind... Shisui snickered, no doubt he'd also noticed the tower's layout reference to Naruto's name. Naruto raised an eyebrow at them, but it seemed he was not curious enough to voice a query.

The ANBU stopped suddenly, Shisui looked around in confusion while Itachi looked equally alert. Much to their bewilderment both Naruto and Hakurei clapped at them, "Well... we didn't expect we'd have to go this deep for you to get a call." Hakurei muttered in a daze, "Young master, are you sure this is wise?"

Naruto nodded, "Absolutely... I told you I'd give anything that chose them, and I'm not going back on my word," he reminded the old seal master, then turned to his friends. "From here on, there's only one room left in armory section of the tower... so your swords must be waiting there for you," Naruto laughed softly, much to their confusion. "But man... we walk passed at least ten armory rooms, and none of those got any reaction out of either you… either you're both super lucky or not at all..."

"Can you explain?" Shisui demanded, "I have no idea what the hell you and Hakurei-dono are talking about."

"You're being too vague, Naruto-kun," Itachi chimed in.

Naruto just smiled wryly at them, "Oh believe me, I can't explain to you what's going to happen. But you have to know that after this, you'll either feel eternal gratitude to me, condemn me to hell, or a mix of both," He said as they stopped in front of another door.

If there was one word to describe it perfectly, it would be ominous. It looked very old and haunted, you could barely see the handle because the one who locked the door must have thought no one would want anything inside, thus explained the wrappings of the metal handle with a thick steel chain and lots of locks. Much to their shock, Naruto didn't use any key but started to pick the locks one by one, passing them to Hakurei who set them aside.

"Naruto," Itachi called him.

"Yeah?" Naruto hummed absentmindedly.

"You're picking locks in your own home." The Tower could be considered Naruto's home in a way. "Don't you have a key for these locks?"

Naruto nodded, "I do," he admitted. He had the spare keys to every room in the tower. "But do you have any idea of how _troublesome_ it'd be to find the key for each lock? These locks are at least half a century old, so it's rusty and some are stuck," he reasoned.

Shisui rolled his eyes at that, "Do you know 'troublesome' is like the Uchiha's hn to Nara?"

"Have they copyright that line?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I don't think so," Itachi supplied helpfully.

Naruto just laughed softly at that as he unlocked the last one with an audible click. The moment Naruto opened the old door, their nostril was invaded by smell of age, grassy notes with a tang of acids, a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness found in old books, and a very familiar smell for a fire-breathing clan like the Uchihas, ashes and fire. Though none of those things mattered the moment they stepped inside the old forgery and laid their eyes on IT.

Hakurei and Naruto noticed that the cousins were looking at opposite sides. Itachi looked on the left wall where a nodachi was hung, unsheathed so Itachi could see the gleaming blade. Its curve and cut were things of beauty. It was approximately five _shaku_ (equivalent to five feet) long with a bluish sheen on the blade that seemed more prominent than normal steel. His breath caught, it felt like the nodachi was trying to pull him in, and he could feel his chakra become erratic. Shisui felt the same as he looked at a katana on the right wall. The blade was shorter than the nodachi as it was only three shaku, but the ethereal beauty was equal.

"This is..." Shisui breathed out in awe.

Naruto smiled softly at the dazed Uchihas. "Aren't they bewitching works of art?" He voiced out their thoughts proudly. "I'm glad you found your match here. Many kenjutsu practitioners are granted permission to wander here, but not all of them are so lucky as to get a call from any blade that resides in this part of the tower..."

Itachi turned his attention to Naruto hesitantly. There must be something wrong with him to be so _reluctant_ to pry his eyes off of the nodachi. "These swords, they are..."

Hakurei nodded, "Sentient on some level, yes..." The old seal master answered in a solemn tone, "When a seal master who's crafted their work into the form of a weapon achieves the highest level, their weapons sometimes become sentient... it's a very rare occurrence," he sighed tiredly. "These blades are one of a kind, a legacy of my old friend." He shook his head, "When young master granted permission to you, I didn't expect for these two to call you out of the hundreds of blades we possess," he muttered in exasperation, rubbing his throbbing cranium.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, "Well... it shouldn't be a problem," he said dismissively.

"Young master!" Hakurei warned him, "I won't mind in the slightest if they take any sword we have, but you should be aware of what this means if you give these swords away..."

He nodded sagely at that, "I know..." He walked to a pedestal in the center of the room and placed his hand on the seal carved on the top of it. "But I had a premonition the moment you brought me here..." he muttered softly as the chains that were holding both swords were pulled down to a reachable height. "It'd be a pity if we continued to keep them here to collect dust."

"Naruto..." Shisui called him, "I understand you want to give us some kind of badass sword, but if Hakurei thinks it's a bad idea..."

"It's not," Naruto huffed, "Now go ahead and take your sword."

They would have protested if Naruto had forced the ownership upon them, but since Naruto just asked them to take it off of its resting place... Itachi and Shisui sighed as they stepped forward and reached out to their respective sword. The moment they grasped the handle, both Uchihas cried out when they felt a foreign chakra crawl into their skin. They would have dropped the blades, but something made them unable to let go. The pain was quick and intense, leaving them dazed the moment it subsided.

Shisui was the first to find his voice, "What the hell was that?!" he exclaimed.

Hakurei sighed at the young shinobi, "It's just a playful bite of an introduction from them, it's normal."

"Then give us a freaking warning!" Shisui howled angrily.

Naruto just laughed at them as he handed Itachi a five shaku long sheath he took from a shelf nearby. "Here... I guess they gave you guys one hell of a playful bite, huh?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "Let me guess," He muttered in exasperated tone as he sheathed the nodachi, "Now we can't return the sword, can we?"

The blond raised an eyebrow at that, "Well... if you can find a way to get rid of it, suuuuuuure~" Naruto droned mischievously.

Instant, Itachi had a very bad feeling. He quickly tested his theory by dropping the sword into Naruto's outstretched hands much to Hakurei's protest and moved away with a shunshin. The abandoned sword suddenly flung itself into his direction, and he was forced to catch it before it hit his cranium. Shisui gaped at the sight before he tried it himself. He threw the sword away and used shunshin to keep dodging the sword, but after a few close calls he caught the sword before it could hit where a man would feel pain the most.

"As long as you didn't put it away with intention to abandon the sword, they won't follow you stubbornly… "Naruto informed them helpfully, "And since they recognize your chakra now, they can find you better than Inuzuka could."

"Wow." Shisui mouthed, that wasn't too bad, and at least he didn't have to worry about losing this sword. While his new katana was cool and a bit clingy, his cousin on the other hand... Itachi would have a problem with his, since the sword was almost as tall as him. Why did Itachi end up with a freaking nodachi while he got a katana? At least he was taller than both his sword and Itachi's.

"Naruto-kun." Itachi crossed his arms, "While I appreciate the sword... I can't use it."

"Because it's as tall as you?" Shisui piped in not-so-helpfully.

Itachi's left eyebrow twitched at the comment, "Among other things..." he admitted reluctantly as he caressed the sheath of his sword. "This sword... may I know who forged it?" he asked curiously. Just from its sheen alone he could assume the forger must have been very skilled.

Hakurei sighed at the query, he knew it was coming. "An old comrade of mine... Muramasa."

Shisui and Itachi went wide eyed at that, "Mu... Muramasa, that Muramasa?! Satori no Muramasa?" He was the most famous blacksmith in the history of Konoha. He was like Hashirama of the Senju clan to the blacksmiths of Konoha. Itachi and Shisui, who were frequent customers of Munechika, had heard a lot about the legendary figure, because old man Munechika on his worse days was always raving about his idol. How Muramasa had been a saintly man but his swords had been demon incarnates and so on, especially Muramasa's Shiseiten, four heavenly sky swords: his masterpieces that were rumored to have surpassed even Kiri's seven swords.

Hakurei nodded at Shisui's sputter, sighing wearily. "I can't believe this... two of Muramasa's Shiseiten chose two Uchiha brats." Itachi and Shisui blanched at that. What they held weren't just two swords forged by a legendary blacksmith, but the best he'd ever forged too?!

"Hakurei!" Naruto warned, and Hakurei hastily muttered an apology. Then he turned his attention back to the Uchiha cousins. "Never mind... just take good care of them 'kay? By the way, Itachi's nodachi is named Tenrou..."

"Tenrou..." Itachi repeated, "Heavenly wolf, Sirius... the brightest star."

Naruto turned to Shisui, "Your katana is Shibien, the north pole star... "

Shisui tilted his head to the side, "So that's why they're called Shiseiten..."

"I didn't expect it though," Naruto mused, drawing their attention from their swords to him. "For Tenrou to choose Itachi while Shibien goes to Shisui... according to the forger's journal, Tenrou is a pretty temperamental sword while Shibien is much calmer, and yet they went for their opposites... well, maybe opposites do attract..."

Itachi swallowed, "I don't think you can just give these out as replacements for standard ANBU Ninjato, Naruto-kun," Itachi pointed out, slightly dazed at the preciousness of the sword he was holding.

Naruto merely raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"These could be considered national treasures!" Shisui drawled in an incredulous tone. "I mean... is it really okay to give these swords just like that?! Can you give these to us?" he asked, looking at Naruto pointedly. "It's Satori no Muramasa's masterpieces!"

The blond looked thoroughly confused, "Eh, why can't I?"

Hakurei's eyes lit up in realization, "Oh I see your concern..." he mused. "I almost forgot that in the shinobi world... a title can become so well known that a person's real name is sometimes forgotten." He shook his head in amusement. "I'm pretty sure there are shinobi who've forgotten that the Sandaime was born as Sarutobi Hiruzen and not the Professor or God of Shinobi. Or that Satori no Muramasa's real name is... Namikaze Muramasa."

Itachi blinked as he recalled the photo of an old man Munechika had proudly showed him before, a man around his father's age, fair skinned, blond with cerulean blue eyes, and long, wavy hair that gave him an effeminate look. He had been wondering why the man looked familiar when he'd seen the photo, but it was no wonder since that man looked exactly like Namikaze Minato save for the shape of his eyes, which had a rounder edge than the Yondaime's. Muramasa was the Yondaime's father, which meant, he was Naruto's grandfather!

"Oh!" Shisui had come to the same conclusion it seemed. Then the curly haired Uchiha laughed out loud, then snapped. "They're your freaking family heirloom, Chibiiiii!"

Naruto blinked innocently at that before nodding sagely at that, "I guess they are... so? They're legitimately mine to give, aren't they? And if they chose you to be their master, they're yours to wield... I'd rather my family's legacy be in use than just sitting here and collecting dust in this old, abandoned chamber."

The Uchihas stiffened at that, realizing why Naruto was so eager to hand down the swords to them. He didn't want his grandfather's legacy to rust in the depth of the tower as a legend soon to be forgotten. For Naruto, the legacy of his family was important and he would go to great lengths to preserve it. Naruto sincerely wanted to give them the swords, not just out of friendship and obligation, but also because he believed they deserved Tenrou and Shibien, that they could wield the legend so it wouldn't die out and be buried under the dust of history.

"Once the news gets out this will be a bitch," Shisui pointed out grimly as he fastened the belt carrying Shibien on his back.

Naruto chuckled softly at that, "I'm well aware of that... they already know The Tower and the Uchiha clan are in some sort of alliance, so don't worry... I know what I'm doing."

"Naruto-sama..."

The blond smiled at the elder, "It's fine... if anything I think it will work in our favor."

Itachi sighed, "I wonder what scheme you're cooking up in your mind now..." he wondered out loud.

Naruto faked a hurt look at that statement, "Me? Scheming? Oh my, Itachi... do you think so lowly of me?" He shook his head, "While I did intend to give you one of my grandfather's swords, I had no idea which would choose you... I did have faith one of them would choose you, though for you to get the best of the best is even better!"

"I still don't see how legitimate it is to hand these legendary swords over to us," Itachi stated firmly. "I mean... while you're the heir, your status in our village..." he trailed off hesitantly.

Naruto waved his concern off, "You don't have to worry about that, since in official paperwork these swords belong to the tower unless Muramasa's heir, or his will, claim otherwise."

Hakurei sighed wearily, "Actually, about his will. As I informed Naruto-sama prior to your visit... Muramasa did leave a will concerning a debt and owing a pair of swords to the Uchiha clan..." he said as he pulled out an old looking scroll tied with a yellow string. "Pass this to your father. Apparently, the Uchiha Muramasa was indebted to passed away a long time ago, so I guess your father is the right person to read it."

The Uchiha heir accepted the scroll hesitantly, "Thank you, Hakurei-dono."

Hakurei nodded sagely, "While I haven't read the contents, I have a pretty good guess about it says..."

"By the way, you never elaborated on what kind of debt my grandfather owed the Uchiha clan," Naruto piped in. "From what you've told me, Muramasa-jiisan doesn't sound like the type who would leave such a massive debt uncovered."

"My old friend wouldn't... he's a man of his words, but well... he's also gotten into the strangest situations more often than not. A trouble magnet..." He shook his head in amusement,

Itachi and Shisui rolled their eyes at Naruto. "I guess that's hereditary," Shisui muttered.

The younger Uchiha recalled his mother had said the same thing about Naruto's mother after one of Kushina's disastrous visits to the Uchiha manor. "What an amazing thing, genetics that is..."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah..."

* * *

**Uchiha Compound**

Fugaku wasn't sure if he should compliment Minato's son or smack the boy upside the head for the latest stunt he'd pulled. His eldest son had come home in a daze with a five shaku long nodachi and a scroll addressed to him, his nephew not far behind with a katana on his back. When he'd read the scroll, Fugaku had felt the beginnings of a throbbing headache coming on. Mikoto had looked worried, but it hadn't stopped her from stealing a couple of glances at Itachi's and Shisui's new swords. Mikoto had been a kenjutsu master before she'd retired after all, so it must've been hard to resist looking at the famous swords of Muramasa.

Fugaku didn't know much about his uncle, but he did remember that Muramasa was regarded as a weirdo even by shinobi standards. Minato's mother died when he was two years old, and people said Murasama became a bit weird in the head afterward. Fugaku didn't really understand what was so weird about Muramasa as, at the time, he was nine when he started training with his four-year-old second cousin. Although as Fugaku grew up, he started to realize his uncle was an eccentric man. Muramasa was nocturnal, and it was a wonder how Minato didn't end up the same. He let his son play with real swords, and Fugaku was almost killed by Minato at the tender age of ten. Muramasa spoke to his bird, cat and dog like he could understand them. With such an impressive list of oddities that could book him a room in a mental ward, it was a wonder how that man could raise a genius like Minato for fifteen years before dying of a terminal illness.

This scroll was undoubtedly his uncle's. It was a will concerning an unpaid debt of Muramasa's, not to the Uchiha clan exactly, but to Muramasa wife's twin older brothers. Apparently, Muramasa had had a hard time convincing Uchiha Mayumi's older brothers to bless their marriage, which was understandable since Muramasa was of Senju line and Mayumi was their only baby sister. Their parents had been long dead, so the twins were very protective of Mayumi. Muramasa promised Mayumi's brother that he would forge the best pair of swords in the elemental countries for them as a proof of his worth for Mayumi's hand. Unfortunately, the twins fell in the second war before Muramasa finished the promised swords, and in the end, Muramasa married Mayumi with the blessing her twin brothers left in their will.

In some ways, you could say there was no debt that needed to be paid, especially since the brothers Muramasa was indebted to were long dead before the he finished the swords. But officially, Muramasa had left a will stating the debt still existed, and he wanted his descendant to pass it on. This contract was so like his uncle, Fugaku was sure he'd made it so he could rest peacefully in the afterlife. Muramasa must've expected Minato to take two random swords from his old shelves and hand them over to the Uchiha clan, even though he could have done it himself when he was alive. Regardless of the possibility that the existence of the scroll was done on a whim, it worked in their favor because it was never specified which swords had to be given as payment. Just a pair of swords to the Uchiha clan, end of discussion.

No one could protest Itachi's and Shisui's ownership of the two legendary swords.

But there must've be some sort of ploy behind this. That old man Hakurei was Muramasa's best friend, and he would have rather handed over his own chopped hand than give up Muramasa's best swords. "Itachi... Shisui, did Hakurei-dono give these swords to you with no underhanded intention?"

Itachi shook his head in negative, "No father, Hakurei-dono wouldn't have given us these swords 'if' he'd had any say about it."

Shisui nodded in agreement, "Eh... it was Naruto."

Of course. He wondered if Naruto was getting too confident after the latest stunt he pulled, thinking he could get away with another one. But then again, he got away with this one too. "Warn him to not keep playing with fire, he is too young for..."

Itachi, in a rare moment, cut his father off, "I believe you misunderstand him, Tou-san..."

Fugaku frowned, "Explain."

He nodded, "While what Naruto did could be considered careless and too brave, he didn't do it because he could." Itachi stated firmly, "But because he had to... when Naruto-kun suggested that surveillance system to gain our clan's cooperation, he did it because it would help both the tower and our clan. Even this time I believe he didn't do it on whim... it's for our alliance."

"He intends to gain more favor from us?" Fugaku inquired, not that he minded if that was what Naruto wanted. Minato was a kind and gentle Hokage, but he was a shrewd politician as well. If his son inherited that from Minato, Fugaku couldn't see that as anything but a blessing.

Itachi shook his head, "Our alliance is seen as weak, merely to show a united front: a temporary alliance... But with these gifts... it will be seen as a show of good will for a long time partnership from the tower."

"And possession of two of Muramasa's shiseiten will raise our standing in the eyes of Konoha..." Fugaku concluded in a solemn tone. "An admirable move... I will write a formal letter to thank that boy, though I will address it to Hakurei..." The clan head mused.

Itachi stiffened, he always disliked it when his father talked as if the village and the Uchiha clan were separate entities. "Yes..." Though he couldn't refute it when both sides distanced themselves. He vowed that one way or another, he'd change their clan, and one day they would see they were a part of Konoha. Naruto had given him time to stall the worst, but he had no delusions that decades of hatred his clan had for their forced isolation could be erased so easily. The tower had given the Uchiha clan a breather from the role as a wounded animal Konoha had cornered. There was no telling how long that allusion would last however...

* * *

**Naruto's scroll of seal~ **

**(1)** **Iwazaru no Fuuin**  
derived from the three wise monkeys (Japanese: 三猿, _san'en_ or _sanzaru_, or 三匹の猿, _sanbiki no saru_, literally "three monkeys"), sometimes called the three mystic apes, are a pictorial maxim. Together they embody the proverbial principle to "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil.  
In case my dear reader forget, this is the cursed seal that prevent ROOT member from talking about Danzo to outsider.

**(2)** **Hikou no Fuuin  
**Naruto's newest masterpiece, a complex A rank seal that incorporate elemental seal and body enhancement seal. The seal array resemble a wavy vine, and placed in Naruto's legs. When used it affected user's body mass and created small gust of wind surrounding user body and float the user to certain extend. It also gave assist the user to gather chakra on the feet which were the hardest part of body to gather chakra, which allowed Naruto to jump extremely high and other properties of the seal make his aerial time longer than normal, that he looked like he was almost flying. While this seal was strong it was very hard to control and one wrong move could cripple the user.

******(3) **Gogyō no Juujika-Fuuin

Shape manipulation seal that ranked as C rank after upgraded from specialized on one element to five elements. This seal is derived from Katon: Housenka no Jutsu and Futon: Shinkuujin, which basic principle is coating weapon with elemental chakra. The chakra this seal shaped in disk or cross shaped in shuriken.

* * *

**Basically Naruto's fighting style is combination of Kuroko's Tetsuya phantom play + Aomine's agility + Kagami's jumping power for those who read Kuroko no Basket. This fighting style works better for those with doujutsu but as long as the opponent is not blind they're going to have a hard time. When I develop it I think of something that fit unpredictable and free spirited nature of Naruto but in the same time 'refined** **and subtle' which differ this Naruto with canon Naruto. **

**Tenrou and Shibien are pretty famous sword, at least I see Shibien in a lot of games... but they're based on what appeared in Samurai Deeper Kyo. **

**There's three characters I wrote in this chapter as politician... one is Sandaime, in the latest chapter Hiruzen himself admitted he did a lot of mistake and he is too soft to deal with Konoha's darkness which is why he 'let' Danzo to handle it. I am not biased against Sandaime, he is a badass old man and I acknowledge that. However he had a lot of shortcoming in his reign, Naruto's suffering, Hyuuga incident and Uchiha massacre for example. Then again this old man probably is too tired and weary, seriously... he should have tried looking for someone else to be Godaime the moment Minato passed away not taking the hat again. As for hiding Naruto's heritage, I can already imagine Sandaime at first has no intention to reveal his jinchuuriki status. However words get around and instead of trying to bullshit his way like a ninja should do he announce it to adults and make it S rank secret. Then again who knows what circumstances forced him to do so but it's still a foolish mistake. **

**Danzo... OH Danzo... My opinion of him is basically what Naruto said, the old man lost it. While he did everything he could for Konoha's interest at one point he seems to go nutz, the boundary between Konoha's interest and his is blurring and in the end for the sake of Konoha he had to be the Hokage mindset. As you can see what happened to Kabuto and his mother, Nagato and Akatsuki. Good job Danzo, you might as well destroy Konoha yourselves... but probably that what he wants, remake Konoha. **

**Fugaku, in Itachi's flashback is revealed as 'not completely a jerk' father. He cares of his sons, but he is harsh and demands the best of the best from them. Then again they have to be, considering their status as heir of Uchiha clan especially with their decline in power. I try to take realistic approach in his character, he cares for his family and Naruto but before he is a father and uncle he is a clan head. He has duty to the clan. His clan members are already as peeved as it is with their decline in power, in canon they outright voiced this when Fugaku tried to cover up Itachi's absence. The coup from what I see is the will of the clan, not necessarily Fugaku's... In case majority of his clan voted for coup Fugaku as clan head could only go along, regardless of his opinion. Clan head is not dictator position in case anyone forgot... Hiashi is a testament of that, his clan or rather their elders decided to sacrifice Hizashi not him. SO yeah... massacre is not out of option yet.  
**


	10. 10th Legacy

**Latest chap revealed Uchiha Kagami was Shisui's father... which implies Shisui 'probably' is around Kakashi's age in canon, at least ten years older than Itachi while in this fic I make him two years older than Itachi. I try to make reasonable background of why he is so young though~  
**

**Beta-ed by garoorar! Yay for our new beta~  
Thank you for everyone who offered to beta this story, I am so happy you care ;_; hueeee **

**At any rate enjoy this story~ **

**POLL result: CLOSED and wooooooo time skip to rookie 9 graduation wins! **

**Yes, skip all the way to graduation of rookie 9 after 3-5 chapters. (70% poll)  
**

**NO time skip (30%) **

**Total vote 70 **

**More votes than what I expect to be honest since I bet majority of you just cross your finger and believe in fate will choose the best route LOL **

**UPDATE: I will skip to the beginning of canon story, Rookie 9 graduation period in 3-5 chapters. Probably in chapter 16... I still have lots of thing to cover and set up background before we go to that period. **

* * *

**10th Legacy: Missing Pieces of History**

**We stand here together. Uchiha, Uzumaki... Senju… why couldn't the sons of Rikudo Sennin do the same? Is the title of heir that important? That they destroyed everything their father had worked so hard for?  
**Uchiha Shisui

**"There's no point in wishing for history that has been set on stone to change."**  
Uchiha Itachi

**"We still have a future ahead within our hands, ours to decide…"**  
Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

**Konoha**

Naruto was on the way back to the tower, choosing an unconventional route that only a small body like his could take. Usually he could care less of the stares and whispered insults that had trailed him like a plague since he was young, and he opted to just run whenever it happened. But he is still aware whenever he gets stared at, especially when it seems like someone no less skilled than a jounin or ANBU was following him this time. It was really hard to throw them off of him, he tried being subtle with it by laying false trails and doubling back whenever possible, but they were really good, even Itachi and Shisui sometimes had a hard time following him. If there was one thing he was as good at as Fuuinjutsu it would be stealth, a skill born out of a twisted longing to play tag at a time when only his ANBU guards were available as playmates. He didn't even have to ask them to play; he _made_ them play with him, chasing him through the village after a good old prank that would end in getting him a reprimand from Tori or the Hokage. That was one childish attitude he was both grateful and ashamed of.

He didn't know if his stalkers knew he was aware of being followed, but if they did they didn't show it. Only, this was starting to get annoying, and he wanted them off of his back now. It was almost hilarious how even a seasoned ninja fell to his unconventional strategies, all it took was a detour to his favorite training ground and him making a ridiculous number of kage bunshin that enshrouded the clearing in chakra smoke. The kage bunshin then split up in four groups, following their training routine as usual. It didn't take long for four black blurs to silently follow each group, unaware of a small insignificant pebble that was left in the empty clearing. After a long while a small puff of smoke appeared and in place of the pebble was one Uzumaki Naruto, rubbing the back of his head.

His eyes narrowed at the lush forest where his kage bunshins and stalkers had disappeared to. _'What is Danzou planning? This is the third time I noticed his puppets following me this week.'_ Then again according to Hakurei's Intel that man was getting more and more restless by the recent developments between The Tower and Uchiha Clan. _'Well, the grudge he has against us is legendary, second only to Kurama's against Madara." _

Danzou viewed The Tower as a threat because they still held love for the fallen Uzushiogakure, and as for the Uchiha...

**The Tower, Naruto's living room **

"He still holds a grudge against Tou-san it seems..." Shisui muttered in between chewing dango they had for afternoon snacks in Naruto's place. "Seriously~ Tou-san has already been dead for ten years..."

"Kagami-jisan was a direct subordinate of Nidaime-sama, wasn't he?" Itachi didn't really know Shisui's father, his father's older cousin who fell in the third Shinobi war. War had not been kind for Kagami who was a close comrade of the Nidaime's students and Danzou. He was married pretty late even by shinobi standards to a medic-nin ten years younger when he was in his forties. And when Kagami passed away, he was only two years old. Shisui had been loved dearly by his father, the youngest child he had when he was in his fifties. Shisui had been devastated when he lost both his father and brother to war.

Shisui nodded, "Danzou was his ex-teammate."

Naruto frowned at that, "Hm... from what Hakurei told me, Danzou seems to loathe the Uchiha." He shook his head, "Not exactly loathing, but it's more like he's under the impression that your clan is going to be Konoha's downfall... a sick branch of Konoha's tree that he has to prune." Naruto didn't miss how Itachi and Shisui stiffened for a moment before they regained their composure.

The Shunshin expert groaned at that, "That old cripple seems to take Konoha's tree metaphor too literally."

"For one... Konoha is not a tree." Naruto agreed, "Just because one branch grows the wrong direction or have sick leaves, doesn't mean you can just cut it off for the rest of the tree to be kept healthy." For one, the pruned part wasn't a human who could fight back and swear vengeance. He tilted his head to the side, "But still, what kind of grudge does he have against your father Shisui?"

The curly haired Uchiha rubbed the back of his head, "Eh... I was four when he passed away, but according to kaa-san it has something to do with Tou-san supporting Sandaime-sama instead of Danzou."

Itachi frowned at that, "It couldn't be that simple..."

"Eh... who knows? According to Hakurei, Sandaime-sama was appointed as the next Hokage when he volunteered to be bait when Kumo ninjas cornered Nidaime-sama and their teams." Naruto drawled in solemn tone. "Apparently Danzou was going to offer the same thing but Sandaime-sama beat him to it." That was a gross summary of what happened according to Hakurei, but Naruto hoped Danzou didn't really believe he would have been picked if he had offered to be the bait before the Sandaime did.

Itachi and Shisui stared at him with unreadable expression while Naruto raised an eyebrow in silent query, "How true is that information?"

"It's a gross summary... I don't know how much Hakurei glossed over, and I am not sure anyone involved in that event went into details about it, especially since the Nidaime _passed away_ after that." Naruto pointed out in lofty tone. "But still... there must be a connection, the Niidaime, the Sandaime, Danzou, the Uchiha clan..."

The Uchihas nodded thoughtfully at that, at a first glance the Nidaime seemed to despise the Uchiha but if he kept Uchiha Kagami as one of his closest subordinates that was not the case. Compared to his compassionate brother, the Nidaime was known to be a straight-laced realist, the very opposite of the Shodaime. But more than anything, he was known for being evenhanded, a fair hokage to his subjects even to members of his clan. Hakurei told him that once a Senju and an Uchiha fought and the Senju was killed. A further investigation pointed that the Uchiha was fighting in self-defense and the deceased Senju was the one in the wrong. The Nidaime didn't even bat an eye and refused the deceased Senju's family request to execute the Uchiha or punish more than what was stated in the law for a murder that was actually committed in self-defense.

But what could drive such a great man to isolate the Uchiha? Well not exactly isolating them, but he made sure that he had them under surveillance, treated so carefully as if he wanted to prevent something. That was their conclusion of Nidaime's political agenda, which was missing one vital piece of the puzzle. What ticked the Nidaime off to the point that he went to such lengths that even a softhearted Sandaime followed his example? It couldn't be a grudge from their family feud and not for Madara's betrayal because the clan itself had refused to follow him. It scared Naruto sometimes that the more he knew about Tobirama; the better he understood the pragmatic kage. One part of his mind was wary that he would agree to Tobirama's reasons to put Uchiha clan in their current position.

"There must be something..." Itachi murmured. "That makes Senju Tobirama to be so wary of our clan..."

"Aside from the fact that Madara and his brother had been on each other's throats since… forever?" Shisui added in bored tone, "He was fond of my father from what I heard. What makes my father different than the rest of our clan?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "There are too many missing puzzle pieces." He concluded. "Well… we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

**Hekiga no Kuni (Country of Murals) **

_Year 1923 After Rikudo Sennin__  
The Senju clan moved to this land, a strategic position as it was close enough to Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron) and Itami no Mori (Forest of Pain) We're building this stronghold in preparation of war against Uchiha Ichizoku, which has allied themselves to the Hagoromo clan.  
Our allies… _

Naruto frowned, "No… not this one either." He murmured dejectedly, though it didn't stop him from writing down what's written in his notebook. At the rate they were going, by the time this is over he would have completed a full record of the warring clans era. They couldn't afford more time for this, he had his duties to the tower and his friends had their duty to their clan. He couldn't have them escorting him for missions too often; the Uchiha clan's pride won't allow that. It helps that most missions are confidential as long as the participating team didn't spill, but there's no guarantee someone wouldn't poke their nose and spread rumors Uchiha prodigies were tasked for jinchuuriki babysitting now. But the Hokage wasn't going to trust him to a random shinobi team, especially since Danzou's agents could be anywhere.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the mural, "We won't get much information from warring clans era it seems."

"Yeah, our ancestors are too busy butchering each other." Shisui quipped. "The reason to do so wouldn't be far from continuing Rikudo Sennin's sons scuffle over his heirs' status."

The blond jinchuuriki sighed wearily; this was the fourth historical site they visited this month alone in between missions. It ran them ragged at this rate, finishing C rank missions as soon as possible so they could take a detour to historical sites such as Hekiga no Kuni. Itachi himself had explored most sites that were located around Konoha since he became genin, but so far he had only found details in the history of Konoha's birth. Strangely the vital point in Konoha's history, Madara's betrayal wasn't mentioned anywhere beyond the fact that it was a disagreement with Hashirama that led to the battle in the Valley of The End. It seemed that whatever may have happened back then, no one wanted to remember it.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, craning his neck to the side. "Oh well… it seems we either have to go to the more recent records or the oldest ones that record the era of Rikudo Sennin's sons."

"Do the records from that era even exist?" Shisui asked skeptically, "… does the Kyuubi know?"

"I doubt it." Naruto answered after a beat, "According to Kurama, after his father's death… he and other bijuu split up and avoided both Senju and Uchiha descendants… our ancestors." His eyes narrowed in sadness, "To them… it's a disgrace that the sons fought and started a war that continued to their descendants for centuries, when their father wished for peace…"

Itachi clenched his fist, "They're right on that…" He couldn't help but sympathize with the bijuu now; their ancestors had ruined the peace Rikudo Sennin built. And Hashirama gave them out as peace offerings to stabilize the power balance for a temporary peace, one that had already been broken three times.

Shisui nodded in agreement, "And yet now…we stand here together. Uchiha, Uzumaki... Senju… why couldn't the sons of Rikudo Sennin do the same? Is the title of heir that important? That they destroyed everything their father had worked so hard for?" He wondered out loud. "If only they had…"

Itachi stepped forward; his hand hovered above the mural. "There's no point in wishing for history that has been set on stone to change." Itachi murmured as he traced the carving of the mural.

"We still have a future ahead within our hands, ours to decide…" Naruto reminded them, clenching his fist.

Shisui grinned at that, "You're right…" He agreed, "But still…" He trailed off, eyeing the mural of long war between Senju and Uchiha. "The present would've been much better if only war never existed."

"You're not the only one who thinks so Shisui." Naruto murmured forlornly, "I do too…"

"So do I…" Itachi added as the scene of Third war's end replayed on his mind, funeral after funeral, burying empty graves because there's no resource to retrieve the bodies, crying families over precious ones that would never return, more names carved in memorial stone. It was a scene of tragedy that was carved forever on his mind.

* * *

There was a reason why he grew his own vegetables, fruits and spices. It was so he didn't have to deal with shopkeepers who more often that not overcharge or sell goods that almost gone bad. And this year he doesn't even do his groceries himself, decreasing his already nonexistent presence to the villagers to nil. So much that there's even rumors circulating that he had died in a ditch somewhere. Hokage-sama had even come and asked Hakurei to keep him in the tower a few weeks ago, since apparently some idiots thought it was time to celebrate his supposed 'death'. Hakurei was furious, but Naruto ordered him to leave them be. He had better things to be worried about than idiotic villagers celebrating his death.

The villagers were really pissed when they eventually saw him a few days later walking through the streets, breathing and alive. As usual, glares and whispers trailed after him, some of them seemed ready to throw the nearest object they could grab at him. They were apparently furious that their wishes didn't come true. It was almost ironic that in reality they should thankful he was alive; if Konoha were to suddenly lose their jinchuuriki it would the same as giving out an open invitation for invasion. Kusagakure, a once a major power in the Shinobi world could attest to that. At some point they lost their jinchuuriki and were invaded by four hidden villages, reduced to the small village they were now and lost Nanabi to Takigakure.

Then again shinobi business was not for civilians.

He paused when he saw a black haired boy around five years old staring at the rows of colorful plastic masks that were being displayed in front of a toyshop, more precisely the ANBU hound mask. Looking at the old yellowing shirt he wore, Naruto guessed that it was either his family was so poor or this boy was an orphan. The boy definitely had no money to buy that toy mask.

Speaking of toys he barely remembered the last time he ever thought of wanting one, it felt like a long time ago. Now, with his Shinobi status and mentality, he couldn't comprehend a child's need for toys. Or why it was fun to play with one. The boy looked really pitiful, and looking at what he wore it was doubtful the boy had even enough money for food.

He walked closer towards the child, standing beside the younger boy. The child turned to him, looking at his blue eyes curiously. "You want that mask?" Naruto asked, pointing at the plastic ANBU mask.

The boy's eyes glowed with hope, and Naruto felt something warm spread on his chest. "Uhm!" He nodded vigorously at the blond.

Naruto had just pulled his wallet out of his pocket when he had to raise his left arm to catch the mask the shop owner threw at him. "What are you doing, all of a sudden?" He asked incredulously.

The shop owner then fumed, "Get out of here bastard! I'll give that mask to you, so get lost!"

Naruto glanced at the young child beside him, the boy looked confused and frightened the shop owner suddenly blew up like that. Then he sighed, his eyes glanced at the price tag on the shelves. Naruto placed a couple of notes on nearby table and dropped the mask to the boy's waiting hand. "Here…" He glanced at the fuming shop owner, "Keep the change sir…"

"Thank you…" The boy breathed out and Naruto gave the boy a curt nod of acknowledgement.

Then he walked away, and not even once did he look back. He heard the shop owner lecturing the boy to stay away from him, and that he was a bad influence on a child. The kid was obviously confused and asked why a bad person would pay for his toy mask. It was amusing to hear the shop owner sputter incoherently in his explanation and insist the 'demon brat' was bad, and that's it. It was not the first time hostile adults had a difficulty explaining why children should stay away from him. Children were curious creatures by default, and whenever an adult forbids them from doing something it was an automatic response to ask 'why not'? Before it was not hard to explain because he was a notorious prankster, but since he stopped his pranks because of his busy schedule, they couldn't use that excuse anymore.

Naruto hoped they would stop trying to influence their children to hate him, or encouraging those kids to bully him. While he could defend himself easily, he was more worried of their children's behavior. Bully mentality was flourishing in younger generations because of their parent's ignorance or rather encouragement. He was not concerned at all before but it started to bother him since few weeks ago.

_Flashback _

_Naruto whipped his head to the side when he was walking through the park, carrying a bag of groceries on one hand after a shopping trip with Yuzuriha. The female seal master followed her young master's gaze, her eyes narrowed at the sight of three girls bullying another that was curled up to a ball on the ground. The bullied girl had pink hair like petal of cherry blossoms, an unusual color, Yuzuriha thought. _

_Naruto clenched his fist, "Yuzuriha." He whispered. "Help that girl." _

_The scarf wearing kunoichi smiled then bowed, "Yes Naruto-sama." Then she jumped away towards the scene. _

_Naruto shook his head ruefully, he would never get used to treating his subordinates as subordinates. But arguing with them about it just makes them sad. _

_Sakura was frightened, why were these girls so mean to her? She just had a wide forehead, an unusual hair color, and reads a lot, do those justify their actions to bully her? She never did anything wrong to them! Sakura was snapped out of her miserable thoughts when an older girl landed beside her gracefully, the teen didn't wear a forehead protector but from her posture alone Sakura could tell she was a kunoichi._

_In instant Sakura forgot about her bullies, and stared at the cool kunoichi in awe. The kunoichi had a long sandy blond hair that styled in ponytail, flowing down all the way to her waist. Beautiful face with exotic feature, and fair skin wrapped in sleeveless pink kimono that parted to expose chest and stomach that wrapped with thick white bandage, white shorts and standard shinobi shoes. _

_"Wow..." She mouthed in admiration. _

_The bullies were also awed, but stiffened when they saw the pretty kunoichi was glaring at them. "What?" Ami, the bravest one of the bullies asked. _

_Yuzuriha crossed her arms, "Are you students of Ninja Academy?" She asked coolly, looking at the bully and then to Sakura, at their hesitant nod she glared harder at the bullies. "As future kunoichi, it's frowned upon to bully your future comrades." She stated solemnly. _

_Ami cowered, "I am just..." _

_"Ami-chan!" The afro haired girl called out warningly, she was scared of the kunoichi. _

_"Bullying a helpless girl? Ganging up on her?" Yuzuriha added ruefully, "Girls, keep this in mind. If you still want to be a kunoichi, learn to respect your peers and you will earn yours. What you did would just earn you a reputation as a bully..." _

_"Hey! Leave my child alone!" A blue haired woman yelled as she walked towards the group, fuming as she did so._

_Yuzuriha turned around to the direction of the angry voice, and she saw a mother that resembles the blue haired girl called Ami. "Good afternoon ma'am, I have no ill intention towards your daughter but she was bullying this girl." She gestured towards Sakura who at some point had cowered behind Yuzuriha's legs like a frightened rabbit. _

_The mother paled when she saw Sakura had bruises, teary eyes, and dirty after her daughter pushed her to the ground. "Ami-chan bullied her?" _

_Ami opened her mouth to protest but Yuzuriha cut her off, "Yes ma'am, and as a kunoichi I deemed it prudent for me to warn your daughter as she is a student of academy. That's not how a kunoichi candidate should behave." _

_"But, well..."It was obvious the mother was trying to pacify the kunoichi, thinking it was her who should chastise her daughter._

_"This girl is also a student of academy, it worries me that she treated her fellow student that way..." Yuzuriha stated coolly, "The Academy is not a civilian school ma'am, they teach children to be shinobi..." Yuzuriha reminded the mother, it was not hard to guess she was a civilian judging from her chakra level. It was irritating, that nowadays some civilian family sign up their children to the academy without thinking about the consequences, and more often than not they were clueless of what they signed up their children for. "I am afraid if I didn't give your daughter a warning now the consequences would be dire in the future." _

_The mother looked dejected a teenager like Yuzuriha chastised her daughter, but she knew better than talking back a kunoichi. "I understand, but they're kids... and..." _

_She leaned in conspiratorially towards the frightened mother, and whispered to her ear. "Believe me... I have seen my share of bullies who ended up killed in missions because they were hated by their comrades. Trust me ma'am, if your daughter manages to graduate from the academy I doubt she will survive her first real mission with that attitude."_

_Yuzuriha leaned back to her full height, looking at the mother who just realized the horror of her ignorance. "Ami-chan!" She turned towards her daughter who flinched at her angry mother. "Apologize to Sakura-chan." The kunoichi raised an eyebrow, so the mother knew the bullied girl then? Yuzuriha thought as the mother started to chastise her daughter about how her behavior had been wrong. _

_Ami began to cry then much to their surprise as she yelled at her mother, "But you let Nii-chan do it to that blond kid in academy! Why can't I! Not fair!" Ami was seven when she saw her parents let her older brother to bully that boy everyone disliked, why she was chastised for doing the same to Sakura? Everyone disliked her for being a teacher's pet! _

_The Kunoichi gasped at that, it didn't take a genius to guess who the blond kid Ami was talking about. "I see..." It seemed The Tower didn't have to give enough retribution to these hateful parents who corrupted their children to ostracize Naruto-sama. They had paid the price._

_The mother looked at the kunoichi in panic, afraid that she would report it to Hokage. "I..."_

* * *

Present

Naruto sighed at the memory, if he didn't know better he would feel guilty. He wondered if he should bring this up to Hokage-sama, it seemed small at first but at this rate those hateful parents were going to drive their children to the wrong path. Then again he couldn't be the one who told Hokage, the old shinobi already took a lot of guilt tripping from Hakurei recently. Hakurei had taken pleasure in rubbing in how 'properly' he was now treated in the tower to the Hokage, how he flourished as a talented seal master and so on. Hakurei didn't have to be sneaky about it, he just have to praise Naruto like the proud grandfather he was and that was enough to drive the Sandaime to the wall.

While Naruto was thinking about future generation's fate and how to bring it to Hokage's attention_, _a pink haired girl walked past him, she was also recalling the same incident from last week, though with a very different perspective. After all, the girl was a 'normal' eight year old girl…

* * *

_Yuzuriha shook her head, "Don't worry... let us part ways now, but don't forget my warning ma'am. You'll regret it if you do..." It was a warning and not a threat, after all it was them who called it upon themselves. She didn't wait for an answer as she led the little girl she saved away from the bully and her mother, "Come on girl... let's sit near that fountain, I will fix you in a jiffy." _

_Sakura obeyed and followed her heroine, "Um!" The kunoichi then asked her to sit on a bench, cleaned the bruise, and then used cool green chakra to heal her bruised knee. "Wow... so cool." _

_The sandy blond haired seal master winked at the younger girl, "You'll be able to do this too one day. Train your body hard, train your heart to its fullest... never give up and you'll see your path as a Kunoichi." _

_She bobbed her head enthusiastically, "Hai!"_

_"Yuzuriha..." A familiar voice called out for her. Sakura turned around, her eyes were wide when he saw a blond boy dressed in traditional attire under the shadow of lush foliage. She couldn't see his face, but there was this regal air about him. He looked very young but from this distance she couldn't tell how old he was. "It's time to go back to the tower." _

_"Yes, young master..." Yuzuriha answered promptly. _

_Sakura blinked when she saw a light blush on the kunoichi's cheek, so her name was Yuzuriha? Young master! So that blond boy was a prince, Yuzuriha was working as his kunoichi! Her respect and admiration to Yuzuriha had gone up a notch, if not two. Yuzuriha was like kunoichi she read from book, pretty, cool, strong, charismatic and... Sakura looked at Yuzuriha's figure that wrapped in bandages. She had such a great figure too! Sakura was just eight but she once asked her mother if the pink haired little girl would look as pretty as her mother. Girls would start to grow their curve when they're preteens, and Sakura always dreamed to be a graceful and pretty kunoichi like Yuzuriha._

_"Sakura-chan." Yuzuriha crouched down in front of her, "I need to go now." She nodded at that, "Bye bye..." _

_"Bye..." She waved the retreating Kunoichi back in a daze. Since then Sakura vowed she would be a cool kunoichi like Yuzuriha._

* * *

**ROOT HQ**

Uzumaki Naruto, the child of two S rank class shinobi and the sole heir of the Uzumaki clan. Not exactly sole, but from the Intel he gathered it was very likely Uzumaki Naruto was the only one left of the main line of the Uzumaki. A child brimming with potential and yet he was severely neglected. Danzou had seen how other villages trained their weapons to draw the full potential of their jinchuuriki, with Kumo as the most zealous one with Iwa followed closely behind. He wouldn't worry of Iwa jinchuuriki, since according to what his spies in Iwa had gathered, their jinchuuriki would rather let Iwa hang themselves unless Onoki himself dragged them out under the threat of death. The jinchuuriki of Kumo in the other hand were fiercely loyal to their village, and had full control of their bijuu.

Konoha's jinchuuriki on the other hand was not even aware of his status, isolated, scorned and neglected. Suna's jinchuuriki might be an unstable child but Sabaku no Gaara at least knew _what _he was, and the Kazekage had a somewhat firm hold on his leash. Sarutobi in the other hand just threw that child to foolish villagers who had no idea who they had scorned and how much it could endanger Konoha, it was a sheer miracle that child hadn't ran away from Konoha or worse, became mentally unstable like the Ichibi no Jinchuuriki. Danzou had thought Hiruzen had at last come to his senses and paid attention to their jinchuuriki's education. But instead of molding that child as Konoha's weapon he put that child in The Tower of all places and under the tutelage of a traitor. That place was pampering the jinchuuriki with adoration the young child craves, and in Danzou's book that was a foolish move. They couldn't have a pampered prince as Konoha's weapon, and one attached to a division that was formed from Uzu's refugees no less.

If that's not enough, the jinchuuriki had formed bonds with Uchiha Itachi and his cousin Shisui. His spies had seen how attached the boy was to his Uchiha friends, to the point Hakurei was willing to give Muramasa's Shiseiten to them. The heir of the Uchiha clan and Kagami's son, he didn't know where their loyalties lie but there's nothing good being associated with a traitorous clan that could threaten their village.

However that was not an immediate concern for now, not as much as how Hiruzen and The Tower pampered the jinchuuriki. Hiruzen had been very reluctant to give the promotion to the boy, and Uzumaki Naruto had become the youngest promoted chuunin since Hatake Kakashi. He had seen missions that Hiruzen had put aside for that child, all C-ranked and above missions with relatively low risk were given to the boy. If Uzumaki Naruto could survive Aizen that child should be able to handle high-risk missions. That boy was a weapon not a grandchild he should shelter and pamper.

He had read reports of the physiological examination his men could scrap from what little they had seen from the boy when the jinchuuriki was out of the tower (which was off limits for his men thanks to the damned wards they put up) to train with his Uchiha friends. The boy was extremely paranoid, almost borderline unhealthy but at least he could approve of that. The training grounds the boy usually used was the closest to The Tower and was heavily warded against intruders whenever he used it, one that even his best spies hadn't found a way to crack without alerting the boy. Personality wise from what he had heard the boy who once was a troublemaker now had became a sweet child, or so Koharu claims. However she also noted that the boy was calm, perceptive, and very polite. The boy was humble when convincing Hiruzen and his teammates to promote him, but he didn't sell himself short either. What he was good and bad at were delivered professionally to them, and not even Hiruzen could deny that the boy deserved that promotion.

The Uzumaki's seal work was topnotch like any Uzumaki should. From their observation of the way the boy walked and moved he must be quite proficient in taijutsu. The boy was a chakra powerhouse so he had potential as a ninjutsu specialist, while not so much for genjutsu probably. But in overall if the boy could achieve that much at eight and without a mentor in the ninja arts other than fuuinjutsu… if Hiruzen listened to him at least once about training the boy to his fullest potential…

What a waste…

It seems once again as the root that supports Konoha from underground, he had to make his move. It was all for Konoha.

* * *

**Koishi no Kuni (Country of Pebbles) **

The Uchiha built quite a number of strongholds during the warring clans era like Senju did. The fortress they visited in this country was one of those. They had found a journal left by Uchiha Tajima, supposedly the father of Madara and the clan head before him. For a short moment they thought they had hit the jackpot, only to be disappointed that all Tajima wrote in his journal was about the war with the Senju and how much he hated the self-righteous clan. Naruto had to say this man was undoubtedly Madara's father, judging from how anything Senju-related in his journals painted the clan in the worst light possible. Sometimes Naruto wondered if the Uchiha clan could even remember that they were related to their archenemy.

Shisui was pretty depressed that they didn't come any closer to the answers they seek, just the revelation that he had another crackpot ancestor other than Madara. Naruto and Itachi told him to shut up, they knew this was another dead end and didn't need Shisui to point out that was another relative to be listed as 'driven mad by the rivalry with the Senju' which was made up by the majority of Uchiha elders.

"However, we found out that Madara befriended the Shodaime when he was around Itachi's age…" Naruto murmured when he read one entry that for once was about his son Madara rather than cursing Senju Butsuma to hell and back. "He found out and followed Madara with Izuna to the meeting place…"

Shisui nodded at that, "Madara was surprisingly late in awakening his sharingan, or at least by clan standards awakening it at twelve is average…" He noted thoughtfully, "Something to do with the mercenary lifestyle of that era probably?" The shunshin expert wondered out loud.

"Hn." Itachi grunted, "But it's strange… why Uchiha Tajima noted the awakening of Madara's sharingan is something worthwhile from that clash between his sons with Senju Butsuma's?"

Naruto blinked owlishly at that, "Probably because the fight pushed Madara to his limits that caused him to awaken his sharingan?"

The Uchiha's scion shook his head, "That couldn't be the case… if you look at previous entries." Itachi carefully flipped the old journal to his desired page. "Uchiha Tajima explained each battle he had with Senju Butsuma in great detail, but in this entry…" Itachi opened the previous entry they read. "He and his rival… their sons… their fight was very brief, they barely exchanged blows."

"Is it possible to awaken our sharingan without being under a stressful condition like in battle?" Shisui wondered out loud, "I remember awakening mine when I was eleven… a bandit almost got a lucky strike on me and my teammate with his giant axe…"

Naruto turned to Itachi curiously, "How about you Itachi?"

Itachi looked hesitant for a moment before he confessed, "I was seven… a few months after I graduated I took my brother for a walk in a park. A nin-ken infected by rabies suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tried to attack me and my brother…" Itachi shifted slightly, "And I activated my sharingan for the first time…"

Naruto shot the Uchiha an apologetic look for reminding him of a particularly unpleasant memory. He sighed wearily, "Ah… so both of you were in dangerous situations when you activated it, same case for the rest of your clan?"

Shisui nodded at that, "Yeah… some crazy parents even tried to scare their kids during the war period in hopes that they get their Sharingan to work early."

Itachi frowned at that, "My father stopped them after one of the parents almost endangered their son's life, I recall…" His father was really furious that time, while Fugaku valued power, as a father he couldn't pardon someone who almost drowned their six year old boy for it.

The curly haired Uchiha nodded at that, "Yeah…"

The jinchuuriki frowned, war or not they shouldn't be _that_ desperate. "Does it work though?" He asked curiously.

Shisui snorted, "That was the unfunny part of the folly, it didn't work at all… the kids were scared shirtless by their parents and needs therapy, but no fancy eyes of ours."

"How come though?" Naruto wondered out loud, "From Madara's case and yours I was under the impression that as long as you're under stress it doesn't really matter what causes it…" He informed them. "It seems that it's not how it works."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at that, "So there must have been a wrong preconception in how we awaken our doujutsu."

Naruto nodded thoughtfully at that, "Not exactly wrong if majority of your clan believes and affirms that's how they got it." He pointed out thoughtfully. "Maybe there's something more to it…"

Shisui crossed his arms. "By the way… how about Byakugan then? There are rumors that the Sharingan is derived from the Hyuuga's Byakugan, though our clan vehemently denies it."

The jinchuuriki laughed softly at that, "As if! I have asked Hakurei, he said someone spread that rumor long time ago to spark a conflict between the Hyuuga and Uchiha but Niidaime-sama stepped in before it got anywhere." He informed them in solemn tone. "Besides… the Sharingan is too diverse in its abilities to be derived from the Byakugan." Naruto pointed out, "The Byakugan focuses in enhancing eyesight such as telescoping, wide field of vision and see through abilities." He listed on, "It makes more sense to think it came from the same ancestor rather than a mutation of another..."

"But if that's the case the Hyuuga would have been with the Uchiha, fighting against the Senju clan." Itachi pointed out. "As of now we're not even in the best terms with the Hyuuga."

Naruto nodded at that, "In that case they might not be related at all, besides… Byakugan is a doujutsu that they have since they were born unlike the Sharingan, which needs to awaken…" He licked his lips, "I have asked Kurama about the Rinnegan, and he didn't know much about it either… but probably both Sharingan and Byakugan are derived from it."

"In looks alone though, the Uchihas look closely related to the Senju." Shisui noted loftily.

The jinchuuriki frowned at that, "Eh… as in?"

"Bone structure, eye colors which are dominantly black, grey or brown, dominantly dark hair with a grey sheen like mine or blue like my brother's, sometimes light brown or white…" Itachi listed on in solemn tone. "The Hyuuga have dominantly straight solid black hair or dark brown… and their eyes are white and not as narrow as ours."

He blinked owlishly, "I see… well, we're all descended from one man…" He trailed off, "By the way, why does the Senju not have a distinct bloodline?"

Itachi shrugged, "They were born with the "body" of the Sage, inheriting their forefather's strength of will and physical energy." He quoted from history records that describe the descendants of the Rikudo Sennin's second son. "Does that count as a bloodline?"

"In that case no wonder there's a misconception that the Uzumaki is an offshoot of theirs and not the other way around." Naruto muttered thoughtfully. "But still… isn't it pretty weird that the Shodaime is the only one with the Mokuton and healing properties? Those are very much like a bloodline… but he was the only Senju who had it."

Shisui shrugged, "Mutation?" He guessed.

"If that's the case, shouldn't at least one his descendants be recorded to have it? At least the watered down version?" Naruto pointed out, rolling his eyes. "Maybe all Senju have the potential but no clue how to activate it?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "True… but they've been Shinobi as long as our clan, it doesn't make sense that only one of them managed to awaken it."

"Well… there's nothing we can do about it since Tsunade-sama is the only one left and she is traveling as the legendary sucker all over the world gambling like mad…" Shisui pointed out.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he closed Uchiha Tajima's journal, "It's been bothering me for a while but can you tell me…"

"Tell you what?" Shisui asked curiously.

"Why there's no Senju clan left in Konoha? Or at least have the surname aside from Tsunade-hime?" He wondered out loud. "Shouldn't they should be comparable in size with the Uchiha when Shodaime founded Konoha?"

Silence hung heavily in the air as the Uchihas processed what Naruto told them. Shisui grimaced as he found his voice, "True… what the hell happened to them? I mean… when I entered academy at six, no one in my class is a Senju."

Itachi nodded at that, "None in mine either even though I attended for less than two years…"

"There're some civilians in our clan, maybe that's the case with Senju?" Shisui guessed.

His cousin frowned at that, "And none of them are involved in being Shinobi anymore? In the very Shinobi village they founded no less?"

Shisui grimaced, "True… that doesn't make sense."

Naruto groaned, "Damn… more mysteries instead of answers, I should have asked Hakurei…"

"Speaking of which… this is the tenth historical site for the last three months." Shisui pointed out with a sigh, "So far we're getting nowhere aside from Naruto probably almost completing a history book of warring clans era…"

The jinchuuriki flushed a deep red, "Give it a rest! At any rate we can't give up now!"

"Should we recheck murals around Konoha?" Itachi suggested. "I might have missed something when I checked it, I was eight after all…"

Shisui snorted at that, "Won't it be funny if the records we have been trying so hard to find was in Konoha all along? Or better yet in the Uchiha compound no less?! Somewhere as cliché as under the tatami mats of the Naka shrine perhaps?!" He laughed out loud, holding his aching side.

"Shisui…" Naruto and Itachi face-palmed at his antics.

If only they knew what lies in the main hall of the Naka shrine, beneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right… They probably would be really pissed.

* * *

Up on a cliff two Shinobi donning Konoha's ANBU masks observed the three chuunin that emerged from the exit of an abandoned Uchiha stronghold. They saw the curly haired Uchiha known as Shunshin no Shisui comment about Naruto's paranoia of setting up privacy seals and warding seals even though they were in the middle of nowhere, and no one would be interested in their conversation. The jinchuuriki argued that Shinobi couldn't be too careful, so please shut up and don't bring it up now. While their research was harmless, who knows if someone would get a wrong idea if they heard it? The Uchiha prodigy they were informed as the son of Uchiha Fugaku agreed with the jinchuuriki, and suggested to make a stop in a tea house ten miles from their current location. Shunshin no Shisui shook his head as he told his cousin that was a geezer's hobby. The jinchuuriki sighed and agreed they could go there as the Uchiha's heir wished, and if he heard one more comment about old men he would throttle the Shunshin expert.

The pale dark haired boy under the mask frowned at the display, the three of them were hailed as prodigies, and yet they bantered like kids their age. He heard his surrogate brother let out a soft chuckle, probably amused by the their antics. He shot his brother a glare to keep quiet or they would be discovered, somehow it got through in spite of the mask and the white haired boy just gave him a thumbs up.

Naruto who was walking between Itachi and Shisui frowned a little, they were being followed and by someone good no less. He wouldn't have noticed them if not for the kage-bunshin he scattered all over the perimeter that henged as bugs and other inconspicuous animals in the forest. His expression was carefully blank but inside he was cursing their bad luck.  
He tried his best to not show that he noticed, forcing his body to relax and walking as if nothing was amiss. He was sure Shisui and Itachi noticed too, as they kept the bantering going. To outsiders it was normal, but to them it was unusual to be so chatty in the middle of the road. He opened his map, pretending to note the location of Itachi's favorite teahouse, which was in the same direction to Konoha. What he was really trying to do was actually to look for strategic locations where they were likely to be ambushed by these stalkers.

He felt like he wanted to cry when he saw there was a canyon ahead, one with a very narrow path no less. It was very likely they were outnumbered too; direct confrontation was definitely out of question. Naruto took a deep breath, "The dango in that place is pretty famous, isn't it?" Naruto asked as he quickly folded the map, rubbing his eyes as a cue to Itachi and Shisui to activate their sharingan.

"Yes, the green tea flavored one is especially good." Shisui chimed in, his sharingan blazing briefly as he and Itachi caught Naruto absentmindedly waving his forefinger, writing character for 'run' and 'outnumbered'

Itachi nodded, "I prefer the sesame one though…"

It took them around ten minutes to reach the narrow path, on the left side was river with fast current and since it had been raining lately it was on the verge of flooding while on the right was a cliff. Naruto and his team were still chatting, Naruto was laughing at a joke Shisui made while Itachi looked as stoic as ever. Their observers were in higher ground, watching them silently with cold eyes underneath their ANBU's masks. One of the masked Shinobi made a sequence of hand seals, rabbit - boar –rat- horse-tiger -snake and whispered, "**Doton: ****Doryūkatsu**-Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide!"

They barely jumped away in time when the ground underneath them was split in two. Naruto growled as he threw seal enhanced shuriken to the first masked Shinobi he saw. "**Futon no Juujika-Fuuin** (Wind Element Cross Seal)"

Shisui and Itachi threw their shuriken, which were just one second behind Naruto's "**Katon no Juujika-Fuuin** (Fire Element Cross Seal)"

**"Nenshou Arashi no Jutsu **(Burning storm technique)**!"** Wind and fire element collided and formed a tornado of fire that consumed everything on its path.

The three Shinobi landed gracefully on the ground, watching the fire dissipate, leaving dark scorching marks on the ground. "Did we get them?" Shisui asked.

"Well…" Naruto trailed off before his eyes narrowed instinctively and he brought his elbow up sharply without warning, blocking the incoming punch from a masked Shinobi on his left. "Who the hell are you?" He hissed threateningly.

The jinchuuriki was sure that if not for the mask he would have seen a sneer underneath, "How naïve." The masked Shinobi murmured, Naruto's eyes widened when he saw a glint of steel from his right and his kunai clashed with a tanto of his second opponent.

On the corner of his eyes Naruto saw both Itachi and Shisui were engaged by two masked-Shinobi. All of them were wearing the same Konoha ANBU mask. Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously at the tip-less tanto he blocked with his kunai and then at the short, black, midriff jacket, with red straps over the shoulders that he saw underneath the black cloak they wore.

They were locked, surrounded and outnumbered what a shitty situation, Naruto concluded. The jinchuuriki smirked at his opponents, "Naïve?" He laughed softly, "Not us, you are!" He shouted as his body slowly disintegrated.

"Bunshin Daibakuha no Jutsu?" The ANBU gasped.

"Sayonara." The clone grinned cheerfully.

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! **

* * *

Three miles from the explosion, on the other side of the canyon, the real Naruto cursed loudly. He fell few steps behind Itachi and Shisui, but neither of them stopped to question Naruto what bothered him. If anything, that was a cue for them to move faster. "Shit! Of all things that could attack us here…" He recalled the memory he got from kage-bunshins he used to throw their pursuers off of their track.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "I assume you know the identity of our pursuers?"

Naruto nodded, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Hakurei showed me their uniform and weapons before, it can't be anyone else but ROOT members." Itachi and Shisui winced at the information. "I recognize that tip-less tanto of theirs, and I doubt anyone would impersonate an _officially _disbanded branch of Konoha's ANBU!"

"What would they want from us?" Shisui wondered out loud, swinging from one branch to another branch.

Naruto scowled as he jerked his thumb to his chest, "Jinchuuriki." Then he pointed at Itachi and Shisui. "Uchihas with matured sharingan." He groaned, "Is there a need to ask?"

"Is Danzou out of his mind?" Shisui shouted in horror, "We're not nobody orphans no one would miss! The clan and The Tower would demand his head on a silver platter if he dares to touch us!"

"Who knows? He dispatched two squads back there and I doubt my bunshin-daibakuha got them all! We're not out of danger yet!"

Itachi scowled, his sharingan blazing with fury. "We're not alone anymore…"

Shisui nodded, making a ram seal as he scanned their surrounding. "Uh oh… I think you didn't get anyone out of the game, the two three men cells are alive, kicking, and gaining on us. On the front there's two teams too!"

The jinchuuriki growled, "Like hell I'll let them to surround us from both sides!" Naruto took a slip of paper with a seal array written on it, charging it with chakra as much as he could then threw it to the ground ten feet away from him. "**G****ome Jimen Fuuin** (Sticky Ground Seal) activate!" The seal array glowed when it touched the ground then burned out by Naruto's immense chakra.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at the ground that affected by the seal, he could see it with his doujutsu and noted the range was at least sixty feet in diameter and the ground was brimming with chakra. Had it been someone else who pumped that much chakra, they would have collapsed because of chakra exhaustion. "How much chakra did you use on that seal Naruto-kun?"

Naruto snorted, "Enough to make anyone who steps on it unable to move from the waist down." Further improvement in that seal affected chakra that was used by Shinobi to stick not just in their soles but also their waists with more chakra. Tree climbing needed focusing chakra on their feet, but they also need to use circulated chakra evenly on other body parts to stand upright so they could walk normally. This was the reason why beginners were told to run instead of walking to reduce risk of back injury. "Unless they have small chakra pools or figured out how to cut off chakra from their feet, they would be stuck for at least ten minutes."

"Nasty." Shisui commented gleefully. "Now, how should we engage the ones in front of us? We will reach them in five minutes."

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "No matter how we see it, we're outnumbered… and they knew us while we don't know them at all."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "True, this is a battle we should escape from… there's no point fighting them."

"However it seems they're not going to let us go that easily…" Itachi murmured.

Shisui narrowed his eyes, "Oh my… one of them is pretty good with suppressing chakra, I didn't notice him until we got this close." Itachi and Naruto frowned at that, "He was going to attack us from above, this guy has means to fly it seems."

"Aerial attack." Naruto groaned, "Great, it's getting harder to escape."

"They're coming." Shisui warned them.

High above a monochrome colored bird hovered above the three Shinobi, the rider of the bird unrolled his scroll and drew five small birds. "**Ninpou: Choujuu Giga**." The birds were animated out of the paper and flew straight to their targets below.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he spun around, as expected the guy who was up there would attack first. "**Hikou no Fuuin**, seal of flight… activate." The seal on Naruto's leg glowed briefly as he jumped.

The ROOT member didn't expect Naruto to suddenly jump the moment his birds flew out of his scroll, not to mention the jump reached him who was flying at least forty feet in the air. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it. The ANBU's eyes widened as he quickly jumped away from his ride and drew another one as he fell; wincing slightly as he landed on another bird while the previous one was blown up by an explosive tag.

Naruto knew that unlike the ink bird rider he was not really flying and he couldn't keep his seal activated unless he wanted to be blown away by wind; especially in this place where the wind was pretty strong and the fact that it's going to rain soon. As he slowly descended back to the ground Naruto grinned at the ink technique user. "If I can't fight in the sky, so will you!" Naruto shouted as a chain sprung from his back and grabbed the bird by its neck, dragging it to the ground so fast that the ink user had no time to draw another bird to escape.

"Sai!" A grey haired ROOT caught the boy before he could crash, while his bird splattered as an ink blot on the ground.

Naruto blinked at the two in confusion. That was unexpected, he thought they were conditioned to be emotionless but this guy who saved 'Sai' was definitely worried for the boy. Perhaps they had not gone through the worse, that they're still in a stage of 'growing up as brothers' but in that case, why were they sent out for this mission then?

He was snapped out of his musings as he blocked a tanto from cutting down his arm with his kunai, "Che, I can't believe your master wasted this much of manpower for us!" He gritted out.

Itachi and Shisui were still engaged in their fight, handling two to three opponents at once. Naruto himself was handling three, that Sai boy, Sai's brother and another ROOT member in goat mask. Using his kage-bunshin he could avoid being outnumbered by his opponents, but it didn't matter much if it only takes one hit to dispel them. There was also one more concern of his, if possible he didn't want to permanently harm that Sai boy or his brother. If he was right, that boy's ability is actually… he shook his head, they had to find a chance to get away soon before their opponent exhausts them, unlike him Itachi and Shisui had a weak stamina. At least weaker compared to his, which comes from his status as a jinchuuriki and Uzumaki.

Ten clones of Naruto threw another barrage of nenshou-shuriken powered by a wind elemental seal, Sai and his brother got away with riding another ink bird but the last member didn't ask for assistance from Sai and went for a defensive earth element technique, "**Doton: Doryuuheki!" **A massive wall made or earth erupted, colliding with the barrage of wind elemental shuriken. It cut through the wall swiftly, but missed the target. Naruto frowned and ordered his clones to repeat their attack, and the goat masked ANBU was quickly exhausted by his series of earth barrier techniques. The earth user was on the verge of exhaustion and he only had enough for one technique left.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the goat masked ANBU made a series of hand seals for an offensive earth technique, "Are you mad?! We're in a on top of a cliff!" And they're very close to the edge to boot, after using so much doton the ground must be really loose by now. If he used an offensive Doton, the ground around them would collapse!

**"Doton: Dochūbaku (landslide)" **The root member whispered and the ground beneath them collapsed together with him who exhausted all his chakra for the technique.

Itachi and Shisui who were slightly farther, right outside of the technique's range cursed. That bastard was going to drag Naruto with him! He was their target since the beginning! "You bastard!" Shisui cursed, "Itachi!"

Itachi didn't need to be told as he pulled a long ninja wire with a kunai tied on the end, then he threw it in Naruto's direction. Naruto was about to grab the kunai handle but the wire was swiftly cut by a small bird made of ink. Itachi's eyes widened, "Naruto-kun!"

His clones dispelled one by one, Naruto had no choice but to jump using his Hikou no Fuuin. There was a risk of getting blown away but he could worry about that later. He jumped high in the air and barely missed the ROOT brothers who flew on his left, "Eh? What are you…?" Naruto didn't have time to defend himself when Sai suddenly splashed him with ink. "What the?!" Naruto yelped when the ink suddenly came alive and tried to strangle him with their snake like body.

**"Ninpou: Sumi Nagashi (Ink splash)" **Sai whispered.

Naruto found himself suspended in the midair, bound by Sai's snake ink that connected to his inkwell. "Let me go, you… "

The boy beside Sai grinned under his mask, "Don't trash around so much, Sai's Sumi Nagashi is not going to break with brute strength."

Naruto scowled at that as he tried to rip off the ink snake that restrained his leg, surprisingly it could stretch like rubber and when he snapped the ink snake they easily reformed around the him, making struggling pointless. "Ugh!"

Itachi and Shisui gritted their teeth as they watched Naruto being carried away by them, Shisui formed a dragon seal. "Shisui! If you attack them you'll harm Naruto too!" Itachi warned.

Shisui scowled, "Shit." The ROOT members they fought had fled, Danzou didn't want anything to do with them it seemed.

Shin looked down at the blond boy struggled and had to say he was impressed a boy that was even younger than Sai could rip it off in the first place. He had seen adult Shinobi didn't even able to pull it off. "Wow…"

"As expected of an Uzumaki, they have brute strength." Sai commented in solemn tone.

Naruto glared at the two brothers, "You're going to carry me _like_ this to your leader?" Dangling thirty feet in the air like a fish caught in net?

Sai nodded, "We were told you're some sort of prince in The Tower, my apologies if the ride is uncomfortable." He said in sardonic tone.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, he noted Itachi and Shisui were following them closely on the ground and they were moving deeper to the canyon. ROOT had a hideout somewhere around here perhaps? "What do you want from me anyway?" Naruto wondered out loud, crossing his arms as if it was a sign he gave up struggling.

"Sorry I can't tell you." It seemed the older brother was chattier than the younger, Naruto noted. They weren't as bad as Hakurei said, even though he couldn't see their faces Naruto could see they still have feelings unlike the full-pledged members of ROOT. They probably had no idea what Danzou had in store for them in a few years, or maybe even months. But like any member of ROOT, they were obedient to Danzou.

"Just stay still Uzumaki." The younger boy intoned. "And nii-san, stop talking with our target."

"Sorry." Shin muttered in sheepish tone.

Naruto sighed, it seemed he wouldn't get anything out of them for sure. "You know what? Your apology for this uncomfortable ride is accepted." Naruto said in genial tone. "But..."

The brothers blinked at that, confused at how their prisoner acted. "What?"

Naruto smiled at them, one that caught them off guard. "Why don't you have a taste of your own medicine?" Naruto asked with a smile.

**Seiyaku no Kusari! **(Chains of pledge)

Chains sprouted from Naruto's back and shot towards Shin and Sai. Sai and his brother couldn't move as the chain wrapped around their legs, torso and neck and the bird they rode stopped midflight. "Ugh!"

The jinchuuriki sighed, "Now you know how unpleasant my position is, now… Let me go!" He ordered coldly as the chain tightened its hold on Sai, and the ink user winced. He was not going to hurt them, just scare them a little, and force Sai to take them back to the ground. Other ROOT members probably were waiting for them, they probably thought their precious cargo would have been transported safely. Not his original plan but it would do.

"No." Sai muttered stubbornly.

"That was not a request." Naruto hissed threateningly as the tip of his chain traveled up and tapped their masks. "Let me go or else." Unlike his mother's chain, the tip of his chain was not shaped like blade of kunai but tomoe like Uchiha's sharingan. He at first wondered why it shaped that way, but that probably the only thing that differed his chain from his mother's. It was sharp enough to pierce human's flesh however.

This time Sai didn't bother to dignify him with an answer. Naruto narrowed his eyes, it seemed they didn't believe he would carry out his threat. Did he really have to injure them? Shin gasped when the tomoe shaped blade pierced and shattered their masks. He could be careless of his but he saw that sharp blade of chakra was just a hair breath from Sai's forehead, and there was a thin trail of blood on Sai's face.

Shin glared at Naruto murderously, "You!"

"I am serious." Naruto gritted out, "Unlike your brother who could only restrain me with his technique, my chains on the other hand could really kill you…" He muttered to the grey haired boy. "And I am pretty sure your master wants me alive, so you can't kill me."

His breath hitched when he saw the tomoe blades were on their neck, but it was Sai who he was worried about. "Let my brother go!" He snapped.

"If he lets me go first." Naruto snapped back. He had no intention to harm them, but he couldn't let himself be captured by Danzou.

Itachi and Shisui watched the three arguing Shinobi in horror, at some point Sai's ink bird had descend to a much lower altitude. In fact Naruto and his capturers were below them now, and under them was a ravine. They didn't worry much about falling, that ROOT boy could fly with his ink animals and Naruto had his chains.

"What should we do?" Shisui asked worriedly.

Itachi narrowed his eyes then pointed at another chain of Naruto that sneakily reached out to their direction. "We're going to…" His eyes widened when he spotted a ROOT member watching the same scene from the cliff across theirs.

**"Futon!" **

Itachi hissed,** "Katon! Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" **

At that moment Itachi desperately wished he had been a wind natured Shinobi instead of fire, because even though his fireball hit the wind user ANBU who had no means to defend from the fire elemental attack, the wind elemental attack was faster than his and unleashed upon the three defenseless Shinobi.

Naruto's eyes widened when his attention was drawn by what happened above them, Itachi unleashed a fireball at someone who unleashed a **Futon: Daitoppa** (great breakthrough) at their direction. At this distance they were going to be blown away to who knows where!

"Naruto-kun!" Itachi yelled as he and Shisui walked down the cliff to help their friend.

"UWAAA!"

But Naruto was already hit by the wind elemental attack with full force, along with Sai and Shin whose ride dispersed in ink by the attack. The gust was so strong that Itachi and Shisui was almost blown away if not for their quick wit to hide behind a large rock to protect themselves from the gust. The moment the attack subsided they found no trace of Naruto or the ROOT brothers.

Itachi and Shisui looked around in faint hope that Naruto managed to use his chains to save himself, but it seemed that Naruto was totally caught off guard by that wind elemental attack. Itachi clenched his fist, his blunt nail dug to his palm to the point it drew blood. "Let's go find Naruto." He drawled to Shisui who looked equally furious. "I doubt they want him dead, they were this careless probably because they want to bet on his jinchuuriki's regenerative ability…"

Shisui gritted his teeth, "So what if he is a jinchuuriki? They think he didn't feel pain if he is hurt? And what of the two kids they blew away with him?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes; sharingan came to life as its tomoes spun. "I doubt they cared…" Itachi hissed in anger, "And after I am done with them, emotionless or not I will make them regret this…" No one should dare touch his friend, his brother. No one!

Had Itachi seen his reflection on the water puddle nearby he would have noticed that his eyes had gained their third tomoes. But at this point he didn't care, his friend was in danger.

* * *

**He he... bet you didn't expect Sai and Shin LOL, I already planned for them to appear sometime soon... **

******As for Naruto's chain, the tip is shaped like tomoe is more or less... because he is one fourth Uchiha even though he didn't have sharingan.****As for fight scene with ROOT, sorry it kind of rushed and I am sure you're disappointed that Naruto just throwing seals around. In case you forget, this is ROOT Naruto faced, they're stronger and more skilled... Naruto pretty much throw as much as destruction he could to avoid direct confrontation. This is another fight he is not ready for... but don't worry in next chapter he will be in ready or else situation. It's getting bloody soon... **

**Spoiler from manga: As revealed in manga recently how sharingan activated and why they're cursed, at this point Naruto and his friends is trying to find out about this. It's funny that Tobirama and Hashirama, Senjus know what's going on Uchiha's head while the clan itself seems to be oblivious of it.  
In case anyone forgot, Butsuma is Senju brother's dad. **

**BTW the bullying mentality problem is inspired by Lucilia's ****Corrupted**, a short yet awesome fic about how parents drive their children to the wrong path. ^^  
Some reviewers express how Naruto just couldn't hate Konoha and so on, believe me... Naruto repeatedly say he is no saint. He just have 'better' things to do and move on with his life. If you ask him about revenge to idiot villagers he will say something along this line "Sorry, I am busy with my life too much to care about them."  



	11. 11th Legacy

**There seems to be huge misunderstanding of what 'Hunter-nin/Oinin' is.  
For one, I think they're actually unique to Kirigakure. But well... there's no info if other village have it too so we can't be too sure. But according to wiki which take 'databook' as reference, Hunter Nin is a 'branch' of 'ANBU' whose mission is to capture missing nin, destroyed their body and so on. So even if I put Naruto as Konoha's hunter nin, he still answer 'directly' to Hokage. Why everyone seems to forget all ninja answer to Hokage is beyond me though~ The only division I could think of that's not under Hokage is 12 Guardians of Fire Country, which Asuma used to belong to. And I also wrote that Naruto's paternal grandfather, Muramasa was one before he retired. I will explore more of this back story in this chapter :)**

**Why I get so many request for Naruto to be a hunter nin is beyond me, but well... I will think about it though skill set wise a seal master would be good in that kind of delicate business next to medic nin.**

**This chapter is packed with LOADS of action like chapter 7-8, and to be honest I am a type of author who do better in debate/discussion dialogue rather than action. I did my best to depict an epic fight though~ **

* * *

******11th Legacy: **Resolve of Steel 

**"A man who trained his men to be emotionless weapons couldn't tell the worth of a Shinobi or jinchuuriki… and I refuse someone like him to grade me!"**  
Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

**Koishi no Kuni (Country of Pebbles) **

Shisui was furious that ROOT had had them, but he and Itachi would get their revenge soon or they're not Uchiha. The ROOT members who were unlucky enough to get trapped by Naruto's sticky ground seal were on their mercy now.

"Where have you guys taken him?" Shisui hissed as he readied another senbon laced with lightning chakra to be put in another non-vital but no less painful spot in the ROOT member's body.

Their hostages were incapacitated with binding seals and strong genjutsu, Itachi and Shisui didn't want to take chances. It was their luck that the ROOT teams were stuck on the ground when they found them, if any of them broke free they would be outnumbered again.

However that was as far as their luck went, since none of the ROOT members answered. They were all as stiff and silent as a doll, and seemed incapable of betraying their master. Itachi frowned at their lack of response then forced one of them to open their jaws. As expected there was a seal on their tongues that resembled Chinese binary codes. This must be the 'Iwazaru no Fuuin' Danzou stole from the tower. Itachi and Shisui contemplated on stepping up their interrogation to get around the seal, but unfortunately they didn't have time to waste on torturing Danzou's puppets. Considering what kind of life they've had so far, Itachi and Shisui thought a quick and painless death was an act of mercy on the ROOT members. Hopefully in the next reincarnation they would have a better life.

The Uchiha cousins then went in search of their friend, and not even once did they look back at the six burning corpses they left behind.

* * *

Those who descended from the Uzumaki clan were blessed with special chakra. Their branch family could use their chakra for various purposes, such as healing, but it pales in comparison to the main family. The main family's special chakra was more potent than normal chakra, which was why in spite of it not being elemental in nature, it could materialize and move at the user's will without a medium. However this special chakra of theirs had its drawbacks. It was so potent that it burned out their chakra coils, making it extremely painful to use for those with undeveloped chakra coils. Which was why even though Uzumaki children of the main family awakened it at eight, they never used it more than for ritual purposes during for their coming of age ceremony, which required a very little amount to show what kind of shape their chakra took.

Most of them didn't even use their special chakra for battle until their coils are fully developed. Usually starting at twelve, an Uzumaki would be able to use their special chakra sparingly. Hakurei had warned him to not use more than three chains at once, since while Kurama's healing could prevent the worst of the damage does not mean he should abuse it when he could avoid it.

Naruto was sure Hakurei would be really angry if he knew what just happened. Not only did he go against Hakurei's warning, he had done so to save two ROOT kids. He was dangling in the air, right in the middle of the ravine with four chains deeply rooted to the cliff face while the other two chains coiled around Sai and his brother. There are only two words to describe his position, _oh shit_.

When he saw that Sai was waking up he couldn't help but ask: "Hello Sai, how about a temporary truce?" He offered as the boy blinked owlishly at their situation, "As you can see… one of your teammates fucked up and blew us away, so here we are… dangling like idiots. Can you draw something to get us out of here? We can settle our mess later the moment our feet touches the ground."

Sai narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "Why should I help you? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for me to capture you here?"

Naruto snorted, "What makes you think you're have the upper hand now Sai?" He wondered out loud, "Just for your information, _my_ chains are still coiling around your waist and I can kill you if I want." Sai frowned at that, "And I can get myself out of this mess, but the only reason I didn't is because I only have enough strength to pull myself up and I would have had to let you and your brother go."

The painter Shinobi narrowed his eyes as he fished out a scroll out of his pocket and started to draw a hawk. Shin who has just barely regained consciousness yelped when Sai suddenly grabbed his arm. Naruto released them from his hold and withdrew all of his chains except one to pull himself up.

It didn't surprise him at all that the moment he poked his head out of the ravine he had to duck from a barrage of shuriken. Activating his 'Hikou no Fuuin' Naruto jumped twenty feet above the ground, somersaulted and landed lightly on his feet. His eyes narrowed at the three squads of ROOT, and unlike those who attacked before they were as young as Sai. There are no adult in this group, the oldest was probably just thirteen to fifteen.

Something was wrong, Danzou had used children before but it didn't make sense to send them to go after him. Even if they were weaker than the adults it doesn't make it any easier for them just because he was alone. Naruto activated his 'Hikou no fuuin' again and fled to the deep forest, or rather to the sky above the canopy.

He would have used Kage Bunshin but he needed Shisui who was a sensor to track him down with his chakra to find him. This was a battle to survive, whatever Danzou wanted from him, that cripple old crone wouldn't get it!

"Shit!" Naruto cursed when he saw a barrage of kunai with exploding tags headed for his direction. He used Kawarimi to replace himself with a log, barely escaping with his life. "It seems that they're after my life." Naruto concluded from how lethal their attacks had been so far, but why would they want him dead? His death would be Konoha's downfall, or at least a trigger to it like what happened to Kusagakure.

Then again thinking of the political agenda of that old cripple could wait until he got out of this mess.

He gritted his teeth when his kunai clashed with a tanto, while he knew he had superior strength, even he could be pushed back like now when another ninja joined in. Naruto glared at the two as he was stuck blocking their swords with the kunai on both his hands. He could feel his left hand start to waver, he really had to get his left hand to be on equal strength with his right, he thought grimly before he activated 'flight mode' and slipped away from their grasp like water.

Naruto formed three seals in rapid movement, Tiger-Snake-Ram! **"Fūton: Kami Oroshi - **Wind Release: Divine Wind Current." Naruto whispered as a vortex of wind was created from his palm, blasting everything on its path including the two young ROOT. While he only had completed second stage of wind manipulation, contrary to what people believe, you didn't have to complete elemental chakra the training to use elemental techniques. Doing so just helps you if you plan on creating original techniques and increases the chakra efficiency of jutsu. Or in the case of the wind element, it allows shaping the wind chakra to its most lethal shape. Naruto has not perfected that stage yet but fortunately for him, he had enough chakra to make it up with sheer chakra overload.

Naruto swallowed when he saw them slam against nearby trees, crashing down to the ground in a painful heap. Naruto was sure he at least broke a couple of important bones of theirs judging from the sickening cracks he heard. He would have finished them off to relieve them of their suffering but unfortunately he could not afford that charity in an active battlefield, not when there were nine other ROOT members after his life.

As he kept dodging their assault and returned it in kind, he noticed something was wrong. They stopped trying to use lethal attacks and were actually trying to herd him to one particular direction. Naruto really didn't want to be herded like a sheep but the moment he noticed it, he felt a ripple of chakra caressing his skin and cursed out loud.

A barrier, they set up a fucking damned barrier! One that was no doubt strong enough to jam chakra signals, even a jinchuuriki's chakra.

Naruto spun around, ready to run out to the barrier's boundary. He had to destroy the barrier, continuing the fight inside would put him in a disadvantage. His eyes widened when he saw another barrage of kunai was thrown in his direction, and they had exploding tags on it. He activated his Hikou no Fuuin in reflex because with his normal speed alone he won't get away in time, however in a moment of panic Naruto misjudged the power he put on his seal and the blast the exploding tags released, he was blown away high to the air before crashing through a row of trees.

* * *

Shisui who had been running alongside him suddenly came to an abrupt halt and Itachi stopped a few feet ahead of him. After cremating the ROOT members, Shisui decided to track down Naruto's chakra which supposed to be pretty easy considering that Naruto didn't try to hide it. He was like a chakra beacon to a sensor Shinobi like Shisui. They had been running like mad when Shisui sensed from Naruto's chakra spike that he had been attacked.

"I lost him." Shisui whispered, Itachi blanching as the worst scenario played on his mind. "No… he is not dead." He assured Itachi, "Something is interrupting his chakra from sending out signals for me to track… "

"A barrier?" Itachi guessed.

Shisui nodded, "Most likely… one that is strong enough to mask Naruto's chakra." He scowled, "How the hell are we going to track him down now?"

Itachi gritted his teeth then glanced at the sword on his back, Tenrou, the heavenly wolf. "Do you remember what Naruto told us about Muramasa's Shiseiten?"

"About how they called out to each other?" Shisui muttered as he too, glanced at his Shibien. "But… Naruto's Shiseiten, Hokuto Shichisei (North Dipper Seven Stars)..."

"… is more problematic than it's worth." Itachi finished grimly.

* * *

_Flashback _

_"Demon incarnate?" Naruto chuckled softly when Shisui told him that the old smith he was a frequent customer of was a fanboy of Naruto's grandfather. And then Shisui told him that according to Munechika, Muramasa was a great and saintly man but his swords were demon incarnates. _

_Itachi crossed his arms, wondering what amused Naruto. "I assume that's because his swords have been used to kill so many people?" _

_Naruto shrugged, "Every weapon in this world was born to be soaked with blood... one couldn't be called demonic for what it does to its kill." Naruto murmured, "My grandfather's Shiseiten however... are unique, it's one of few sentient weapons that exist in the Shinobi world, even among the seven swords of Kiri only the one called Samehada is sentient."_

_"But your grandfather managed to produce four sentient swords, a feat that is considered legendary to a blacksmith." Itachi drawled. _

_"Well... in a sense the Shiseiten have their own will, but that's just one part that got them called demonic swords..." Naruto sighed wearily, "When used... they'll guide you to a degree, trying to communicate with their owner... teaching you how to use them." Itachi and Shisui nodded at that, they had realized there was some sort of magnetic force that guides them to swing their swords in particular ways. "It doesn't sound so bad at first... but apparently those with weak wills would be consumed by their sword's stronger will and go ballistic for blood and power."_

_Shisui gulped at that, "That's... isn't that so similar with the relationship between a jinchuuriki and their bijuu?" Though in Naruto's case it was not that way._

_Naruto nodded grimly at that, "Yes, but I am not worried for you and Itachi." He stated confidently, "You both have strong wills... and from what I have seen your swords approve of your resolve so it's unlikely they would try to dominate your will."_

_"... Naruto-kun." Itachi called, "If I may ask." Naruto nodded, "Who are the previous owners of these swords? And have any of them fallen to its power?" _

_Naruto clenched his fist. "Yes." He confirmed, "It's because... when my grandfather tempered the Shiseiten, he was only told by the Hi no Daimyou to create the strongest swords as a gift to his fellow Fire Guardians..." He shook his head, "At that time, according to Hakurei, the only thing on Muramasa-ojiisan's mind was forging the strongest weapons for the loyal guardians of our country... he was just newly promoted as Fire Guardian back then and hailed as the most talented blacksmith in his generation, he had no idea what kind of person would wield his swords..."_

_Namikaze Muramasa was the youngest guardian promoted by the Daimyou, he was eighteen when he was recruited. According to Hakurei, in spite of his talent and power as both a shinobi and blacksmith, he was naive when he was younger. He was a kind and gentle man, and personality wise, Muramasa wasn't fit for either profession but he had an iron heart when it comes to his duty. But even an iron heart was not infallible..._

_"What happened?" Shisui asked worriedly. _

_The jinchuuriki swallowed, "For the first few years nothing wrong happened, or rather something wrong already did but no one noticed... eventually one of the wielders became a traitor." He gritted out, "His sword was furious of the treachery... and in its rage turned its wielder to a mindless killer and slaughtered his benefactors for the coup." _

_Shisui blinked at that, "Well... that's not so bad?"_

_"To Hi no Kuni, yes." Naruto agreed solemnly, "But witnessing the traitor losing himself and being punished by his own sword made the other wielders fear theirs and they shunned Muramasa-ojiisan for it. The daimyou was livid that his guardians didn't trust themselves or their loyalties enough to wield the swords and stripped the three guardians who threw away their ownership of the Shiseiten of their positions... the previous daimyou himself was wary of the Shiseiten since their not just weapons but sentient ones at that... even so, he made a mistake and gave one of the Shiseiten to his first son, hoping to mend their strained relationship because he preferred his second son who was more talented and wise."_

_Itachi frowned, "It didn't... the sword killed his first son." Itachi guessed. _

_Naruto nodded, "Maybe that was the Daimyou's true intention, testing his son's loyalty..." He sighed wearily, "Muramasa-ojiisan was devastated that his sword was used by the Daimyou to kill his own son, so he requested to retire from his position and begged the Daimyou to let him bring the Shiseiten back to Konoha with him." _

_"Woah..." Shisui gasped, "That's a pretty big request! Why did the daimyou gtve in and let Muramasa and his Shiseiten go?" _

_"The previous Daimyou was fond of Muramasa-ojiisan and after everything, he didn't have the heart to force him to stay. However... he had one last request." Naruto waved his forefinger. "He requested Muramasa-ojiisan to leave one of the Shiseiten with him, a spear called Hokuraku Shimon... the shiseiten that took his son's life." _

_"...Wow." Shisui mouthed, "I don't know if the previous Daimyou was being stupid or awesome, no normal person would want the spear that killed their son to be anywhere near them."_

_Naruto shrugged, "That's why we have three Shiseiten in the Tower, Hokuraku Shimon is with the Daimyou's family... it became their family heirloom. Ojiisan was desperate to get away from the Daimyou's court as he couldn't bear to see betrayed looks on his comrade's faces, that they thought... he created Shiseiten with the purpose of testing their loyalty in mind, putting a leash on them...while in reality what the Shiseiten did to their traitorous wielders was on their own accord as swords that were forged for the loyal guardians of this country."_

_"I see..." Itachi murmured then glanced at the sword Naruto had on his table. " So this is the last Shiseiten in the Tower's possession... "_

_Naruto nodded grimly, "Two of the Shiseiten took a liking to certain families... Hokuraku Shimon stayed with the Daimyou partly because it loved their blood, while this one... my Hokuto Shichisei." Naruto gestured to sword with golden handle before him, unlike Shibien and Tenrou that had skin wrap as its handle. The sword was also as long as Shibien, and it was a two edged sword with a very prominent blue sheen on its blade that was a signature of his grandfather's swords. "It took a liking to its creator's line..." _

_"Is that why you hesitate to use it?" Itachi asked. _

_Naruto nodded, "While I have confidence in my will... the moment I give this sword my blood I have to... steel my resolve too..."_

_Itachi's eyes widened at that, "Because you're of Muramasa's blood?" _

_Naruto smiled at that, "I am his heir after all... that's why…" Naruto wrapped the sword with bandage that had seals written all over it. "…Until I am ready, Hokuto will have to stay asleep for a while." _

* * *

The blond seal master groaned as he surveyed the line of trees he crashed against, thankfully he managed to reinforce his body with chakra in the last minute so he had not broken his back upon crashing but it was still painful. "Damn... how far did I get blasted from the barrier's border?"

**'At least around fifty meters.'** Kurama who had been too quiet for a while helpfully informed him, **'How the hell did you manage to get yourself in this kind of mess? AGAIN?!' **The last part was said with exasperated tone.

Why is this third jinchuuriki of his always getting himself in trouble?! Heck! Mito, who was the wife of a kage had a relatively peaceful life. Even Kushina only got kidnapped once, and the daily problems she had were minor in comparison to her son. Naruto was already put into this kind of situation twice, and don't forget about the little problems he got himself into in a daily basis, which ranged from burning forests, explosions in his workshop, cooking attempts that come alive and his not so innocent and probably lethal little garden in the rooftop. The latter was undoubtedly the most dangerous and in the off chance that Naruto gets it in his pretty little head to pull a Hashirama and make second coming of the Shi no Mori (Forest of Death), he was sure not even a bijuu would venture there. How Naruto possesses a green thumb that could 'somewhat' rival the Mokuton was beyond him, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Naruto's chakra and seals he uses when watering his plants.

**'I healed your chakra coils, good job stalling time for me to do it.' **Kurama grunted. '**What did that old man Hakurei say about using your special chakra again? Don't depend on it until you're twelve! Our combined healing ability is not going to work forever for internal damage as delicate as chakra coils!' **

_'Not my idea, I had no choice! Once I get out of this mess, I am going to recreate Hiraishin or something since getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with hostile company seems to be a trend for me.' _Naruto said mentally to his tenant in sardonic tone.

Naruto crossed his hands as he blocked a jump kick from his left, grunting as he was pushed away. The blond jinchuuriki gritted his teeth as he saw three ROOT members surrounded him, they were wearing snake (Hebi), Lizard (Tokage), and Bat (Koumori) masks, all of them then took an offensive stance. They wanted to confront him directly, there's no escaping this it seemed. Naruto parried a blow from right as he ducked and slammed his elbow into Hebi's stomach. His second attacker gagged as the air was squeezed out from his lungs. Naruto somersaulted over his head to dodge Koumori's kick, and then he threw a kunai that was enshrouded in red chakra.

The said kunai embedded to the snake masked ROOT. "Aaaaargh!" The snake masked ANBU's scream of pain echoed as he writhed in agony.

The other two were dumbfounded, why did their teammate scream over a small wound by Kunai? While the wound was deep, a trained ninja wouldn't let out such scream. Their eyes widened beneath their masks when they saw the kunai oozed red demonic chakra, and the wound darkened as their wounded teammate writhed in agony.

Kurama's demonic chakra was even more potent than the strongest poisons of Suna's puppeteers, the wounded man won't die right away but the pain the demonic chakra caused when they invaded a non-jinchuuriki or anyone who was not descended from the Rikudo Sennin was immense. He didn't like to inflict unnecessary pain to subdue his enemies but he wanted them to know that even though they had the upper hand in direct confrontation he was not harmless.

It was a warning, for them to stay away from him.

A warning which was ignored when the remaining two charged at him. Naruto knew then that it was not going to be easy to deter them. Naruto hastily activated his Hikou no fuuin and dodged the incoming right hook with light movements. He purposely let himself fall to the ground before he stopped his fall with his right hand and then swung his right leg in a sweeping movement that planted a painful kick to Koumori's shin. It didn't faze his attacker for long as the man pounced to pin him down. Naruto threw three Kunai which were easily dodged as the man shifted to the right and proceeded to pound him to the ground. Much to the ROOT member's shock Naruto dissolved into chakra smoke, and another puff of chakra erupted behind him and the next thing he knew a kunai was embedded to the back of his head that killed him instantly.

Naruto grimaced as he withdrew the bloodied kunai but kept his gaze to the remaining ROOT member who wore the lizard (Tokage) mask. If another Shinobi decided to join the fray he would be in big trouble, the reason he could handle the other two was because he caught them by surprise and he was not sure he could pull it for a third time. He glanced at the storage seal on his bandaged left hand, before he shook his head mentally at the prospect. He was not ready, not yet.

He expected the last surviving member of the team to attack but much to his surprise, Tokage jumped away from the clearing and fled. Naruto cursed as he threw a kunai with an explosive tag to the retreating Shinobi. When the smoke cleared and no body was found. This was bad; the next time they came back they would be more prepared for him. He had to find the barrier wall as soon as possible.

He gathered chakra to his nose, wincing when he smelt something strong that numbed his sense of smell. It seemed they knew how some jinchuuriki developed a keen sense of smell and removed that asset from his repertoire. "The sky..." He murmured, "Since when it become milky white?" Just now it was still blue with some dark clouds. "Ki..." He hissed, "Kirigakure no Jutsu?" Now they took his sight too? What the hell they were planning?

He heard something, a familiar sound and felt the vibration in the air, one that he associated with lightning chakra Shisui and Aizen used. His eyes widened as he realized what they were trying to pull. He jumped as his flight seals glowed, floating him twenty feet in the air just right above the cloak of mist. He winced when he saw electric current started to crawl through the air with high water vapor on it, though he realized that to pull this off whoever executed the Kirigakure no Jutsu had to have superb control over this technique or they would be killed by the lightning element attack. He couldn't stay afloat forever though so he had to get rid of this mist first.

Naruto was now really regretting not finishing his wind element training, but he had to make do with the crude proficiency he had. His nimble fingers formed six hand seals quickly before he descended back to that dangerous mist, Ox-Dragon-Horse-Dog-Bird! Naruto spread his arm then spun in a movement that resembled the Hyuuga's Kaiten as a massive ring of wind spread out from his hands. "**Futon: Shougekiha no Jutsu- **Wind release: Shock Wave."

The mist was swept clean by the Shock Wave of wind, and he managed to land safely to the ground with a soft thud. His eyes narrowed as he started to feed Kurama's chakra to his Hikou no Fuuin. Kurama's chakra was potent, and his young body could only handle a miniscule amount of it but he was running out of normal chakra and it would take a while for him to recover. Fortunately Kurama's chakra somehow managed to be compatible to his Hikou no Fuuin, unlike other body enhancing seals that explode upon contact with demonic chakra. It was probably because it was engraved upon his body and used was often enough, that it became like a part of his body. But just to be safe Naruto limited his time limit of feeding Kurama's chakra to thirty seconds and after that he had to wait for one full minute before doing it again.

But those thirty seconds would be enough to complete this one task. There were four lightning element users, all of them were around thirty to forty meters away from him, at two, four, seven and eleven o'clock.

In one short second four kage bunshin appeared under the cloak of chakra smoke and split to four directions. The original Naruto who was left in the clearing panted as tried to regain his lost breath, mentally counting on his head as he held a ram seal. Lowering the air pressure around his clones would allow them to move with unbelievable speed but they won't last long, kage bunshin in spite of their solidity was still a mass of chakra that could disperse easily. The lower the air pressure meant less oxygen, and while a normal human would have suffocated, and clone could only last as long as they could hold their breath.

"Three… two… one." Naruto counted down with a sense of trepidation of what he was going to do next. "Bunshin Daibakuha no Jutsu." He gritted out.

Four simultaneous explosions happened in four different directions, and Naruto gagged as the memory of four exploding clones returned to him. This time he was sure his attackers were dead, because before his clones exploded they had pounced on their targets. The numbing smell had gone because of his wind element attack and he could smell properly again. Naruto soon regretted the return of his keen sense of smell because the moment he sniffed the air, his nostrils were invaded by the scents of smoke, fire and the worst of all, the scent of burning flesh. His attackers were indeed dead, there's no way they were faking that scent.

**'Oh no, you don't!' **Kurama snapped, the bijuu's roar echoing in his mind. '**Don't pass out here; we're not out of danger yet! Don't you dare!'**

Naruto gritted his teeth as he struggled to stay conscious, but chakra exhaustion was something that not even an Uzumaki was immune to. He had to draw more chakra from Kurama to sustain his body, but that was not going to help for long. His young body was already too tired. "Ugh…" His blue eyes turned crimson and his whisker marks became darker. He fell down to the ground, just in time to dodge an ink animal that came out of nowhere, but the animated ink was able to shred his left sleeve. "Sai…" He mouthed out with a grimace marred on his face; he almost forgot that boy was still around.

He clutched his left hand; it was just a scratch that fortunately would soon be healed. Naruto cursed as he heard a roar, which no doubt belonged to Sai's ink animal. He also picked up the scents of remaining ROOT members, they were trying to surround him. He fled deeper to the forest as fast as he could, dodging the traps they had laid for him. He didn't know how many ROOT Shinobi were left after he killed six of them with his exploding clones, but there was probably more than one three-man cell not counting Sai and his brother.

In spite of his position Naruto couldn't stop a nagging feeling that something was really wrong on the back of his mind. He knew something was wrong the moment he started fighting with Sai and his brother, and when he fought inside this barrier. **'I concur…' **

'_What's wrong actually?' _

**_'Meh… who knows how you humans manage your messes, though I got to say it's weird having only kids popping up since you got trapped inside the barrier.' _**

Naruto's eyes widened at that, Kurama was right! He was fighting for his life so he didn't really pay that much attention to their age, but these ROOT members were so young… the oldest he encountered so far was that brother of Sai who couldn't have been older than Itachi. That explained how they were much weaker than the ROOT teams he encountered before. These teams are not the same as ones he met before he was separated from Itachi and Shisui. They were trainees of ROOT, which explained why he could catch them off guard with exploding clones while the other team survived.

_ 'When I fought with Sai I just thought he shouldn't be out of Konoha yet… not to fight me, Danzou should have keep his trainees out from sensitive missions such as abducting or assassinating a jinchuuriki like me.'_

Kurama frowned as he heard what ran through Naruto's mind now, **_'Great, so… the bastard sent his child soldiers after you instead of adult ones. I don't care why he did it, but I'm warning you! Don't you dare to hesitate! They tried to kill you! If there's one concept I understood about human's fighting, it was the 'I kill you before you kill me' concept!' _**Naruto winced at that as he dodged another swinging log. **_"I won't save your ass for being stupid, you hear me! Uzumaki Naruto?!' _**

Naruto swallowed, he knew it was inevitable to kill as a Shinobi, he already killed but it was still not an easy thing to do and it _shouldn't_ be. He didn't know how Shisui dealt with killing but he and Itachi had the same belief when it comes to taking life. It was never a _right_ thing to do but something you _have to_ do and accept as part of a Shinobi's life. He and Itachi believed the moment you found it easy and thought of it as something right, was the moment you lost your compassion as human. Shinobi were beings that endure and make difficult choices in their life after all.

He always appeared to be prepared for anything thrown to his life, but his paranoia and pragmatic actions were because he was afraid of being wrong when he decides on his course of action based on his own feelings. There was always someone's feelings taken into account for every action he took, Itachi's, Shisui's, Tori's… his parents'… but never his own.

He closed his eyes. Then as he opened his eyes it was no longer crimson but azure blue he inherited from his Namikaze blood. Naruto jumped out of the lush forest, the seal he had on his bandaged wrist shone as he smeared his blood on it, and a sword appeared with small puff of chakra smoke. The sword fell to his waiting hands, and unsheathed it the moment his feet touched water's surface and ripples of water spread out.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as six figures appeared before him, and on the sky Sai and his brother were preparing an aerial attack. It seemed Danzou had indeed sent a whole class of ROOT trainees after him.

"Before you start attacking me…" He began in the calmest voice he could muster, "I would like you to know that… I am no longer going to run or hide from you." He stated firmly as he raised his sword, the bluish sheen of the blade gleaming under the sunset. "However… would you enlighten me as to why your master ordered you to kill me?" He asked with a frown. "My death won't serve Konoha's greater good, and Hokage-sama won't let him get away with this…"

One of them stepped forward and Naruto recognized the lizard mask, the survivor of the team that confronted him directly. "We're ordered to test your capability jinchuuriki, to confirm your worth as Konoha's weapon."

They answered, which meant Danzou wanted him to know the purpose of this assault. No matter how important a jinchuuriki is to Konoha, Naruto didn't expect Danzou to be willing to sacrifice so many trainees to achieve that purpose. "And you're willing to die for that? I have killed… at least seven of you by now, does their death prove nothing?" He asked in incredulous tone.

"It's not for us to determine." Tokage answered in clipped tone.

"Then how..." Naruto stopped in his tracks, his eyes widened in realization. It was not them who is to determine his worth for Danzo, because they would die serving that purpose. It was _someone_ else who was going to do that. They were being watched! Damn! "You idiots! No one needs to die just because your damned master wants to know whether or not I am a worthy jinchuuriki to Konoha! What does he know about jinchuuriki anyway?! A man who trained his subordinates to be emotionless warriors couldn't tell the worth of a Shinobi or jinchuuriki… and I refuse someone like him to grade me!"

Tokage as expected for a ROOT member, especially one who was probably the oldest of the trainees Naruto had met so far was undeterred by his exclamation. "So you're an idealist Uzumaki-san? Why would a weapon like you bother to keep your emotions? It makes you imperfect… we Shinobi have _to sacrifice oneself. Closing your eyes to the sunlight, distinguishing yourself in the shadows. That is the true form of ninja…_" He quoted his master.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, "And that's why it matters not to you… that your comrades died for something mundane like determining my worth?" He asked in incredulous tone. "While it's true Shinobi have to give their everything to the village, it's foolish to turn your eyes to the darkness and live in shadow forever… those who don't acknowledge their humanity are nothing but hollow shells that would destroy themselves and achieve nothing!" Just like that man who called himself his teacher, a pathetic man who discarded his humanity for sole reason of avenging his fallen clan.

He wished he could have seen what kind of face these trainees made under their masks, to see if there's still hope left in their eyes. "Nevertheless… this is what we're set to do, this is our mission."

"I see… " Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Then let us fight, but I will let you know one thing." He warned them before he popped up a soldier pill to his mouth. Soldier pills were not safe for children under twelve years old with undeveloped chakra coils, but he would deal with the side effects later. "I choose to fight for what I believe in, something you should have done yourselves… that's what a true Shinobi is to me."

* * *

Itachi and Shisui gasped when they felt Tenrou and Shibien on their backs suddenly shook, pulsing as if warning them of something. "Well..." Shisui trailed off, "The good news is that our swords are calling for Naruto's now, but the bad news..." He snarled at the last part.

"He is cornered..." Itachi gritted his teeth in anger and horror, "Enough to force him to use Hokuto." He finished as he leaped to nearby tree followed closely by Shisui.

Shisui cursed out loud, "Damn… damn them! The moment I get my hands on them, I will use my cruelest genjutsu on them." He vowed viciously, "Emotionless cronies be damned!"

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "My thoughts exactly… and with that said…" He trailed as he formed nine hand seal so quickly that he blurred through them in a second, **"Katon:Goukakyu no Jutsu-** Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The giant fireball burned through the lush forest, leaving trail of fire in its wake. None of the Uchiha missed the four black blurs that dodged the grand fireball so they threw their fire seal powered shuriken rapidly. Four disks of fire tore down the trees and the fleeing Shinobi scrambled to dodge the incoming projectiles. But because Itachi and Shisui decimated the surrounding forest with their fire attack, there's no place to hide.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at one of the masked Shinobi; he recognized that platinum blond hair anywhere. Shisui seemed to conclude the same, this ROOT member was a Yamanaka. All distinctive clans, especially those with bloodline or hereditary techniques would have nearly identical chakra signatures. Shisui was not as good as the Nidaime who could tell someone's clan just from their chakra, but he had been a teammate of a Yamanaka for few years so Shisui was quite familiar with a Yamanaka's chakra. Itachi moved his gaze to the black haired one beside the Yamanaka, his sharingan spotting tiny dots of chakra on the masked shinobi's body. This one was an Aburame.

"A Yamanaka…" Itachi announced coolly, "And an Aburame…" He didn't put it past Danzou to be able to worm his way to respectable clans like the Aburame and Yamanaka.

Shisui scowled at them, "How dare you show your faces to us! Not that I am complaining!" He cracked his knuckles, "As promised… you will be in a world of pain, and I will make it less painless if you get out of our way!"

"Shisui." Itachi warned, he was as furious as Shisui was but they couldn't afford to be reckless. Shisui fumed before he schooled his face back and calmed down. "As much as I would love to ask no more than you to get out of our way… I can't ignore the fact that your master sent a 'Yamanaka' to confront us… damage control just in case perhaps?"

Shisui quickly caught on what Itachi implied. That bastard war hawk intended to screw with them and got a Yamanaka to mess with their minds? It was one thing to do it to enemies and traitors, but to comrades? "You dare?! That does it!" He unsheathed the Shibien and his sword was instantly coated by lightning chakra. "Itachi, it seems they're not going to move anytime soon so I am going to make them."

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "So it seems…" He too unsheathed his blade but it was enshrouded in flame. "Make sure to incapacitate the Yamanaka first." He whispered, loud enough only for Shisui to hear, "We won't like whatever plan they have with an expert of mind techniques…"

The shushin expert grinned at that, "Of course Itachi!" He saluted before he swung Shibien down to a seemingly empty air, **"Hono Ikazura (**fiery thunder)**!"**

A torrent of lightning chakra jumped from Shibien and struck down the ground where the Yamanaka stood just a moment before. Itachi cut off their escape route, blazing fire bloomed out of the top of his sword and engulfed the four Shinobi. **"Shakuran Entei- (**Fire Emperor's Blooming Orchid**)!" **

Itachi and Shisui frowned when they saw the four bodies dispersed as a burning swarm of kikaichuu, the Aburama was a sneaky fellow.

* * *

Out of the four of Muramasa's heavenly blades, Shibien was the oldest, followed by its brother Tenrou then Hokuraku Shimon, and the Hokuto Shichisei he held was the youngest of them all. While all his grandfather's swords were temperamental to an extent, Hokuto being the youngest was not just the temperamental but also arrogant and stubborn which was why it stuck close to those who inherited Muramasa's blood. Hokuto, like any other Shiseiten desired wielders with a strong resolve, with strength in both mind and body. They valued only the genuine power of its wielder, thus using chakra that's not his own when using Hokuto was out of the option.

You could be their wielder, but apparently lowering their standards was not in the contract. Naruto had heard enough gory stories of wielders of the Shiseiten that fell victim to their swords, and the moment Naruto was chosen by Hokuto Shichisei, Naruto knew this sword won't hesitate to reject him the moment he was deemed unworthy, blood relation with its forger be damned. Naruto wasn't going to lie that the reason he never used Hokuto in a real battle or spar was because he was afraid his grandfather's legacy would reject his resolve.

But now that fear was so far away… there's nothing to fear as long as he believed in what he lives for, that was his nindo.

In terms of length Hokuto had a longer reach than ROOT's tanto and combined with its sharper blade, based on weaponry alone he had the better edge. His chokuto clashed with the tanto of his attacker, the one with mask of a bat but with different color than one he saw before. The second Koumori ROOT member was definitely younger than the first one and much weaker. He pushed on and cracks started to appear on Koumori's tanto. Which was no wonder since clash between blades are determined by sharpness. "Why don't you stop now?" Naruto urged on, pushing more chakra to his right hand. "This is a senseless battle, dying here wouldn't serve the greater good you worshipped so much!" Naruto shouted as he shattered Koumori's tanto beyond repair.

"Naive." Tokage whispered as he swung his tanto to Naruto's unprotected left waist, "You have a bad habit of leaving your left side open when you enhance your right hand with chakra." He warned the jinchuuriki. Tokage paused as a sharp pain came from his right shoulder.

"The naïve one is you..." Naruto returned, "Who discarded your emotions and strife to follow orders without your own judgment. " Naruto stated sternly, "Raising my left hand was not a bad habit, but because I am used to…" He trailed off as he pulled the blade that was embedded on Tokage's shoulder, earning a small grunt of pain. "…wielding two swords." Naruto said as he held two nearly identical swords, one shorter by one shaku than the other.

Hokuto Shichisei was an asterism that was formed by seven stars and divided to two groups, four stars are called Tokai and the other three are called Tohyo. The longer sword he held on his right was Tokai while the shorter one was Tohyo, this was the true form of Hokuto Shichisei.

Naruto pushed chakra to his feet which made the water surface explode due to chakra overload, which caused the jinchuuriki to narrowly dodge Tokage's tanto from cutting his leg. It seemed they figured out the existence of Hikou no Fuuin and wanted to damage the seal. Naruto swung Tokai down to the defenseless Tokage, but instead of aiming for a vital spot Naruto shattered his mask. The other ROOT members charged with their tanto drawn, Naruto ducked then in a split second gritted his teeth around Tokai's handle and formed half seal with his right hand. Three kage bunshin appeared in a small puff of chakra smoke, and Naruto could feel the familiar burn in chakra coils and distantly hear Kurama throwing tantrums about brats ignoring the dangers of going past their own limits. Great, Kurama was pissed.

Nah… he would deal with Kurama's tantrums later, it's not…

BOOM!

A loud explosion echoed through the air, but it was pretty far away. Naruto used the split second of their distraction to put a distance between him and the ROOT teams. Naruto caught the sight of smoke rising in two o'clock, it seemed Itachi and Shisui had a helluva time sating their inner pyromaniac. Though in Shisui's case, he was blatantly a pyromaniac who used both fire and lightning whenever he could. Hakurei looked ready to faint when informed that Shibien and Tenrou respectively had grown to be compatible to lightning and fire element chakra. It seemed the old seal master had a bad experience with the Uchiha and their pyromaniac tendencies.

Tokage looked unfazed by the smoke that was no doubt a sign that his comrades were in trouble by now, Naruto could see his face. Tokage was the same age as Shisui, with brown hair and eyes in the same color. Naruto didn't care how Tokage looked, but he had seen those kind of eyes before. He had seen it in Tori's, though it was slightly different. Those were the eyes of someone who accepted death. While in Tori's eyes it was laced with kindness, gratitude and regret for not being able to keep protecting him, in Tokage's it was a plain acceptance that he had to die.

As if death had to come to him just because the mission dictated so.

His Kage Bunshin charged to engage the other ROOT members while he chose Tokage as his target. He formed the offensive stance of his kenjutsu, and then he charged.

"_Tonro_**: **Ravenous wolf !"

There are seven blind spots in a human beings movement, and in this style the sword guided the wielder connecting these spots in a series of attacks that could cripple and then kill their opponent. Naruto scowled, if they valued their life so cheaply he would show them it was not that easy to welcome death!

"_Komon_**: **Giant gate!"

Naruto murmured as he stepped back, his hands spread out as he swung both swords in wide movement, sending wave of wind that hit all of them at once.

Naruto was well aware he was forcing his body to its limits to keep going, but he couldn't and wouldn't hesitate.

_"Rokuson_**: **Jovial life**,  
**_Mongoku_**: **Zenith of Euphoria**,  
**_Rencho_**: **Clarity**,  
**_Mugoku_**: **Knight's song**."**

Naruto gritted his teeth as he forced his hands to form the last star of Hokuto Shichisei, crossing his arms above his head sending a wave of chakra above them which rained down, injuring the whole squad of Shinobi at once.

**"**_Hagun_**: **warriors of destruction**.**"

_Hokuto Shichirenjuku_**- **Asterism of the Seven Northern Stars.

Ignoring Kurama's protests about how screwed his body is right now, Naruto narrowly dodged Sai's ink lion while spraying the incoming ink beast with water in one swift swing of his sword. Sai narrowed his eyes at that, no wonder Naruto led them all the way to the nearest water source. Uzumaki Naruto had figured out that his ink animals were especially weak against water and unusable in rainy weather. Naruto seemed to have affinity for water like any other Uzumaki but it seemed that while he was aware of it, the jinchuuriki had nonexistent training for it. Which was why he opted to push chakra into the existing water to destroy Sai's ink animal. Then again at that age to master one element was quite a feat already.

Shin clenched his fist as he watched their fellow ROOT members fell one by one, it seemed that they were still alive but the last attack was vicious. Naruto from his observation used heavy, lightning-quick blows, which aimed to inflict immense damage upon contact, he was sure had the blond been in prime condition they would have been killed already.

"Sai…" Shin whispered, "Isn't this enough? Uzumaki Naruto is strong… stronger than any of us." He said firmly, "We should pull back now, there's…"

Sai shook his head, "Danzou-sama ordered them to fight and die to test Uzumaki's capacity, and we're ordered to observe nii-san… " Sai murmured, "We… can't disobey."

Shin heard Sai's normal stoic voice had a tint of doubt in it, Sai seemed to have second thoughts in letting their comrades die in the hands of Uzumaki Naruto as Danzou-sama ordered. "But…"

The painter shinobi narrowed his eyes as he finished a series of characters that took the form of birds and flew away. Sai had sent the result of their observations of Uzumaki Naruto and they would… "We can't disobey… let's join the fight now." And die as ROOT Shinobi who supported Konoha from the underground.

* * *

**"Raijin Moraien-**Lightning web!" Shisui whispered as web of lightning chakra spread out and caught the wayward ROOT members. It had been a long cat and mouse game, and they had decimated a good part of the forest with fire and lightning in the process.

Itachi craned his neck as he observed Shisui's handy work, it took quite a while to round them up and if not for their swords they would have been at a disadvantage. Fortunately the ROOT squad had no intentions of confronting them directly, which meant that this squad was the 'clean up' crew who was supposed to deal with the aftermath of whatever ploy Danzou cooked up. It was by sheer luck they happened to come across this team, and managed to overpower them. He had known Shiseiten was capable of throwing a lot of destruction, but he didn't expect they could use it like this to such effect. Still...

**Badump!**

Had he been someone else he would have felt wary to hold a sword that beats like a heart, an abomination in a sense. Of course that was a normal human's preconception, to be frightened by a weapon that had a will of its own and not mindless to be swung around. When he placed Tenrou near the Yamanaka's neck, Itachi could see even the stoic ROOT shinobi was wary when feeling not cold metal but something sentient and emitting killer intent more powerful than its wielder's. Itachi could almost see that instead of a metal blade, what rested against the Yamanaka's neck was a jaw of hungry wolf. The blond had the same opinion it seemed, judging from how he looked at Tenrou instead of Itachi who was holding it.

"Itachi." Shisui called out, holding a mask he had taken from one of ROOT members "Aside from that Yamanaka and one Aburame, the others are not from any clan I know of in Konoha." He shouted at the Uchiha's heir, "What should we do to them? We can kill the rest but regardless of their affiliation with ROOT the Yamanaka and Aburame... they're still part of Konoha's prominent clans..."

The ANBU frowned at that. Shisui was right, killing the Yamanaka and Aburame could get them and Uchiha clan in a lot of trouble. Danzou might use it against them later, while they had more pressing concerns now, to act rashly was not an option. "We have no time to waste with them... but it seems this Yamanaka is the brains of this mission." And he didn't like the implication of what a Yamanaka is doing in a presumably assassination/abduction mission.

Danzou either wanted to wipe their memories clean or brainwash them, and he probably planned to overwhelm them with numbers before doing so. However Danzou failed to factor in the Shiseiten's prowess, Naruto's seals and how they were used to being outnumbered by Naruto's clones. One would eventually learn how to fight efficiently when someone who had superior chakra capacity and stamina fought and outnumbered you in daily basis.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, "Well... we've incapacitated them, and we can't afford Danzou to discredit us, our clan or the tower..."

Shisui snorted, "I can imagine it already." The Uchiha's history with betrayal was still strong in the mind of old folks like Danzou, never mind his father had been loyal till the end. Unfortunately there were no non-Uchiha witnesses that could attest to their innocence, and Danzou could skillfully weave this incident to his liking. Too bad for Danzou, Naruto had a well deserved paranoia when it comes to him. Shisui turned to one of non-clan ROOT members, pointing at the dark haired man. "You will do." He grinned. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He whispered as a replica of him appeared. "Itachi, let's go! My kage-bunshin will mess around with them for a bit and we'll be scot free!"

Itachi sighed at that, "Very well."

* * *

**CLANK!**

Sai winced when his tanto clashed with the jinchuuriki's blade, his arms throbbed painfully because of vibrations from the clashing metals. As expected from a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, with brute strength alone each attack he intercepted felt like hitting the strongest iron from Tetsu no Kuni. No wonder his fellow ROOT trainees didn't dare to clash their weapons with the Uzumaki's. The ink user had fought Uzumaki for less than few minutes, but he had to admit defeat inwardly even before the fight ended. While Uzumaki Naruto in a sense had almost non-existent field experience, his fighting style was unconventional and unpredictable. He was also a type who grew stronger in real battle. Danzou-sama once told them that, someone like this was the most dangerous type of fighter and had to be finished in the first chance they had. However there was no such chance.

Uzumaki's fighting style at the first glance was graceful and smooth, but each strike from his sword was a heavy, lightning-quick blow which aimed to inflict immense damage upon contact. Normally he could match an opponent with superior physical powers like the jinchuuriki with catching them off guard with his ink animals, but since he joined the fray, the jinchuuriki didn't even give him a chance to pick his brush. Sai was well aware that even though the Uzumaki was winning; he was not uninjured at all. There were numerous cuts and bruises on him, and Sai was sure that Shin-niisan's tanto left a nasty gash on Uzumaki's side when he was distracted by Tokage. Their lizard masked comrade also managed to land a hit on the Uzumaki's left arm, which probably fractured the bone. But the reason Uzumaki Naruto was winning in spite of that was because he kept going as if those injuries didn't faze him at all.

Naruto struggled to keep his breathing even, it was difficult to keep fighting while ignoring his wounds. He had endured chakra coil burns for a while, and in comparison to that, the cuts and a fractured bone was no more than minor annoyance at best. Then again it was probably adrenaline that made him numb from the pain. Tokage, Sai and Shin. Only these three left, how many had he killed? All of them gave him the same eyes, eyes that say: 'just kill us and our mission will be completed.' Some of them even jumped and shifted when he attacked, making his own non-lethal attacks become killing blows. What the hell had Danzou done, that they thought their death was for the greater good of Konoha?

He shattered Tokage's tanto with one swift blow, and then he held his blade against the older boy's jugular. "This is pointless." He repeated with a hiss, "There's no greater good in this senseless battle, I am sick of it."

He expected a silence in response, but for the first time the ROOT trainee answered. "To you it is… " Tokage said as he grabbed Hokuto's blade and for a moment Naruto was almost relieved, but the blade was pulled right in front of the older boy's chest. "It seems you know a lot about us, which means you know what will happen in the end of our conditioning training to be a perfect Shinobi."

Sai and Shin stopped on their tracks, wondering why the older boy knew of the final test that was supposed to be a secret. "Touya!" Shin called out, "What are you talking about?"

The newly revealed Touya shook his head, "Everyone in this operation knew of it except you and Sai…" He gritted out, "I told them… or rather I passed a note to each of them because the seal will prevent me from talking."

"You know…" Naruto muttered in disbelief, "And so did they…" He glanced at the bodies of ROOT trainees around them. They died knowing Danzou would make them kill their surrogate brothers as a final test to be a full pledged ROOT member. "Then why?! Why you make me kill you?! Because death by my hands is more preferable than what awaits you?"

Touya titled his head to the side, "Maybe… but this is the death we choose upon ourselves Uzumaki Naruto. Maybe the first and the last thing that I know the reason of why I did it… as a human and a Shinobi, not a tool…"

"Is that so?" To ROOT, Shinobi is weapon and not human being. They were forced to throw away their emotions to become a perfect tool for Danzou. "So death is your escape route? You gave up the life your master destroyed? Has it never crossed your mind to try to find another way?"

Blood flowed the moment Touya pulled Hokuto's blade, slowly piercing through his chest. "Unfortunately Uzumaki… Naruto…" Touya gritted out, "This is the only way we know…"

Naruto gritted his teeth, "Coward…"

Touya nodded at that, "I am… I am a coward…" He coughed out blood, "Who killed his own brother to survive." Their eyes widened at that. "Guilt weakened me instead of turning me to a perfect weapon… I am a failure… our master deemed me as such, which is why I was sent to this… suicide mission."

"Touya…" Shin breathed out, "So… Saku wasn't killed in a mission?"

Touya nodded, "It's a test… " He coughed again.

It was dark, cold and quiet place… he was trapped in that place for days until he thought he was going to lose his sanity. Then suddenly he was told to kill his opponent and he would be freed and reunited with his brother. He was desperate and before he knew it he had killed someone in that dark place. Instead of became jaded and perfectly emotionless the moment he saw his brother's corpse, he was overcome with grief and guilt. There's no conditioning method that could yield perfect results, Danzou always had two results since he created ROOT and their conditioning method. The trainee that would be a perfect tool; coping with guilt and grief, their mind choosing to discard their emotions after they killed their surrogate sibling. And the trainee who failed, their mind shattered by guilt and sorrow. In the end those who fail choose to be killed in suicide missions rather than live as a failed weapon.

"So those who we're told… have failed to be full pledged members are…" Sai muttered in disbelief.

"Discarded in suicide missions." Naruto gritted out, "Then why those two too?" Naruto pointed at Shin and Sai.

Touya shook his head, "Unlike us… for Shin… the conditioning didn't work it seems…" Shin was even a worse failure than they were in Danzou's eyes, which caused Sai to be one as well. Shin had a strong mentality, and Sai's presence if anything didn't help. Sai was originally susceptible but Shin's presence prevented Sai from the worse of ROOT's conditioning. "A pair of brothers in our ops is inseparable, if one is a failure… another is marked as such too."

Shin gasped, "What the hell?! Sai and I are sent to this mission because of that?! But Danzou-sama promised me that…" Shin yelped when he suddenly felt jolt of pain through his body and fell on his knees. "Aaaargh!"

"Nii-san!" Sai called out, running towards his brother. "Hang on Nii-san!"

Naruto scowled, "Iwazaru no Fuuin…" He had heard from Hakurei that the pain caused by this seal was immense, and Danzou even used it on children. "You better watch your mouth… the pain alone could kill you…" He wheezed out then turned his attention back to Touya. "So… this is it for you?"

Touya's eyes started to flutter shut, nodding weakly at the jinchuuriki. And Naruto knew that the moment he withdrew Tokai, the older boy would die slowly because of blood loss. Naruto let go of Tokai, and then used his free hand to cover Touya's eyes while another was holding Tohyo close to Touya's jugular. "You're free now… " Naruto murmured, "May your soul find salvation…" Naruto said sadly as he felt the hand covering Touya's eyes feel the warmth of tears, and with one swift slash Touya of ROOT was no more.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto didn't know why but the moment he heard the familiar voice of Itachi and Shisui he felt so relieved, and his body gave in to exhaustion and injuries he suffered. Naruto didn't hit the cold-water surface because Itachi was quick enough to catch him. The Uchiha's scion looked pale and panicked, just like when Aizen almost killed him. Itachi was such a worrywart, he mused. Then again at the rate he kept endangering himself, Itachi might get a heart attack soon. He swore that since Itachi befriended him, the stress lines on Itachi' face have only deepened.

"I messed up again…" He coughed out, "So sorry Itachi… Shisui…"

Shisui shook his head, "Just shut up Chibi!" He snapped as he inspected Naruto's wound, he was no medic but he knew enough to know superficial wounds when he saw it. "Oh shit! A fractured arm… and you also lost a lot of blood! Can't you ask _him_ to heal you now? These aren't life threatening for now but you're in a lot of pain and a trip to nearest medical facility is going to make it worse."

Naruto laughed softly at that, "Used too much…" He murmured incoherently, "Give me a day to sleep it off, and I will be fine."

"You're impossible." Itachi chided him, leaning the jinchuuriki's head against his chest. "A fractured arm is not something you could sleep off. Besides…" He trailed off, glancing at their surroundings.

One, two, three… added with the corpses they saw on the way here… how many of them had Naruto killed? Aizen was one case, contrary to popular belief; the first kill was not the worst thing a Shinobi experienced in their career in assassination. Especially since Naruto killed Aizen with unconventional methods and Naruto was more saddened by the death of his ANBU guards to mull over his first kill and the political chaos that followed. Now however, Naruto killed these shinobi in self-defense and there's nothing that would distract him from the guilt. He knew Naruto would recover but the pain will linger there.

And there are the two survivors of this mess, and judging from the situation they couldn't put up a fight anymore. Now that they had lost their masks at one point in their scuffle with Naruto, Itachi could see they were young. The black haired boy resembled Sasuke a little, and in the same age as Naruto and his brother. The white haired boy was a bit older, probably around ten years old. Itachi was snapped out of his thoughts when Naruto sat up and turned to face the two brothers.

"What do you want to do now?" Naruto asked softly.

That was a simple question but for some reason the two reacted as if Naruto just dropped a bucket of ice water on their head. "We don't know…" Shin admitted warily. They couldn't go back to ROOT after they failed their mission, and running away was next to impossible because of the tracking seal Danzou placed on them.

"Nii-san… what should we do now?" Sai echoed, the younger brother looked equally at a loss of what to do. He had been prepared to die for this mission but after watching Touya's death and suffering, he was not sure he was willing to do so.

Shin regretted answering Naruto honestly, how could he say that? He should be a reliable brother to Sai, and here he made his brother worried. Then again he _really_ didn't know what would become of them. Shin's eyes widened when he saw Naruto walk towards them, his sword was sheathed but Shin was not a fool to forget this boy was the one who killed their fellow ROOT members. What if he thought they would better off dead?

Shin wrapped his arms around Sai who was still dazed from the whole ordeal and yelled at the approaching jinchuuriki. "I won't let you kill my brother! Stay away! Don't come any closer!"

Sai was stunned by his brother's hysteric shouts, Shin was always emotional but he never heard his brother act like this. "Nii-san?"

Naruto sighed wearily, "In case you forgot… I shouted myself hoarse to convince your comrades from throwing their life away, what makes you think I am going to kill you now?"

"Eh…" Shin blinked owlishly at that, and realized it made sense. The white haired boy was unwilling to let go of his brother yet though. "I guess…"

Itachi and Shisui who stood right behind Naruto-in case he collapsed again- sighed at that, it was so Naruto to try to talk his opponent out of their stupidity even though they tried to kill him. They had a feeling it would be a routine for Naruto.

"It seems unlike them you still choose to live." He smiled sadly at that, "Good… very good…" He laughed softly. "I have a proposition for you." Naruto offered.

"You do?" Shisui raised an eyebrow at that, "Since whe… hmph!" Shisui had his mouth covered by Itachi and wisely shut up.

Shin and Sai looked at the jinchuuriki, wondering what Naruto wanted from them. Shin didn't know why but for some reason he had come to a conclusion that their fate was in the younger boy's hand now. "Proposition?" He echoed, hope started to swell on his heart when he saw Naruto reaching out a hand to them.

Naruto nodded, "You have nowhere to go now… and you have no means to escape Danzou's clutches on your own." He stated solemnly, "I… we can help you."

The older boy swallowed, they were in a pinch now but he was not born yesterday to be so naively accepting of help from someone they tried to kill just a moment ago. "What's the catch?" He asked curiously, "There's no way you'll help us without a boon or sort."

"True." Naruto admitted, there's no way the ROOT brothers would trust him if he offered help without a price. There should be a price for them to trust him. "But not at the moment…" He informed them. "First… come with me to The Tower and we will undo your Iwazaru no Fuuin first, and then we talk…"

Sai's eyes widened at that, "You can remove this…" Sai asked in disbelief, holding his mouth unconsciously.

"I do…" Naruto said with conviction in his voice, "We're the makers of that seal after all… your master stole it from us."

Shin swallowed, that was just too good to be true! "I still want to know why you're going to help us! What will you gain from this?!"

"… I would be lying if I say I want nothing from you." Naruto admitted honestly, "What I want is your trust… to follow me."

Sai looked at the blond wide eyed, looking at the offered hand and wondered why he wanted to reach out for it. Shin felt the same but could they trust this boy? "Where're we going?" Sai asked curiously and before he could stop his younger brother, Sai had grabbed the offered hand and seemed unwilling to let go anytime soon.

Shin was still skeptical but wherever Sai went, so did he. He reached out to grab the younger boy's hand, and realized Naruto's hand was very warm unlike theirs.

"To the new world… full of light…" He breathed out as he grasped their hands firmly in his. Danzou had trapped them in a shallow world of darkness, a twisted cocoon he created to his liking. The world out there was not perfect either, but… they would be no longer be emotionless weapons but their own person. This is their new world…

_"Welcome… to the world."_

Sai and Shin felt the warmth in their hands start to spread through their body, they were aware of the hardships they would face as the traitors of ROOT but… somehow they felt safer than ever when basked in this warmth. They couldn't fully trust Uzumaki Naruto yet, but for now he would follow him.

* * *

**As requested by Halcyon Monarch, Naruto's stats. **

**This is not a solid stats yet but I think it will suffice...  
Nin: 2  
**He is not bad in ninjutsu but he is only good in variety of Kage-bunshin, henge, kawarimi and wind element technique, and that because he overload everything with chakra. Typical of Naruto. So his slow score is because in this department he has small pool of techniques and I plan to keep it that way... quality over quantity.**  
Tai: 2.5, Str:3, Speed:2  
**While his style is unorthodox and unpredictable, his advantage over his opponent is because he surprise them... and he is not experienced enough.  
He is fast but it's because of Hikou no Fuuin, naturally he has more strength than speed at this point.**  
Gen: 1  
**Dunno how to grade this department, Naruto would never specialize in this thing... he is better at breaking out of them though. His teammates are specialists in this so he would prefer other kind of skill to support them.**  
Int: 4  
**Naruto is smart... though it seems some readers misunderstood that I make him book smart type like Sakura because he tend to read a lot. In the first few chapters Naruto pretty much work his ass off and jammed everything he could get his hands on to his head... he is very young so it's easier for him to learn compared to his canon self. He also the type who think on the fly like canon Naruto when it comes in battle, which is ironic considering his paranoia...**  
Stamina:4  
**He is an Uzumaki and jinchuuriki, so no surprise here.**  
Hand Seals: 3  
**He is not bad at this but not at Itachi's level... though this is one area he would improve at.**  
Fuuin: 4.5 (4-Dan)  
**At least in overall skill this is one department he is the best at... Seal master in my story use the same system calligraphy uses, kyu/dan (beginner/master) ranking system that's used in other traditional Japanese art forms, such as martial arts. The highest is 9-Dan for seal master... so he is halfway to there already.  
The stats is about how good he use seal in battle while the seal master rank is gained through test, it doesn't matter how good the seal he produce, he still have to go through the test one by one... It's a thesis kind of test which involve loads of research. For comparison it's like alchemist' research in Fullmetal Alchemist they have to submit periodically.**  
Kenjutsu: 2.5  
**He just started learning this, and the reason he could win against the ROOT trainees who are much better than he is in kenjutsu is because he has better sword. Like Asuma said in canon, the sharper blade wins.

* * *

**Now... hopefully I did a good job to depict a good fight. It's not a curb-stomp battle at any rate since Naruto was a wreck and his opponents are too willing to die after putting a good enough fight. Power level wise Naruto have a LOT of upgrade since his confrontation with Aizen. **

**As for his elemental technique, I think I should explain that 'elemental affinity' training like Naruto did to create Rasenshuriken is not a must to use elemental technique. Uchihas are prime example... they mastered Goukakyu no Jutsu when they're young without any elemental affinity training. Normal elemental technique used hand seals to do both shape and elemental manipulation which is why it can be used without the exercise. Chidori while looks cool don't have much in shape manipulation... unlike Sasuke's variant of it. Rasen Shuriken in the other hand is purely manual shape manipulation which is why Naruto need the exercise. **

**BTW Shougekiha no Jutsu is a 'original technique' it's a basically a ring shaped Daitoppa and not just one directional attack. **

**Their kenjutsu techniques are taken from Samurai Deeper Kyo, so they're not my original. I would love to create some myself but I would rather to think of new fuuin than kenjutsu stuff.  
Itachi's attack is taken from Hotaru while Shisui's is from Sarutobi Sasuke's... I contemplated that Shisui should have water element since his name is Shisui (Stagnant Water-what a name for an Uchiha) but discarded that idea for Lightning.  
Translation of Hokuto Shicisen's technique is from Indonesian publisher... which I am not sure is 100% correct. Unfortunately I can't find other version... online one just say first star, second star and so on... Hokuto Shichisei's attack is wind elemental technique ^^**

* * *

**I am sure fans of HACK series recognize the last line, which is taken from Hack/GU. "Welcome to the world" indeed LOL  
As you can see, in this story Naruto's therapy no jutsu is not 100% effective... then again they already lost the will to live so there's not much left to be saved.  
In the last chapter I really sad a lot of you underestimate Danzou that much... as you can see in this chapter he has prepared a counter measure in case things go south. Too bad Itachi and Shisui caught the 'counter measure' team. There's no plan in this world that couldn't fail anyway... **

**My beta ask if Danzou would get in trouble with Hokage, well... Sandaime seems to let Danzou get away with a lot of things. However in this case later... it would be different, since it's not just between him and Sandaime.**

* * *

**By the way, a replay to anonymous review by Kazekira: **  
It's amazing how so many reviewer fail to be a critic when it comes to judging whether or not a Fic is great or if a Fic is utter shit, with calling someone's story a failure as anonymous reviewer. Which implied you have no guts to be responsible of your critique with sign up as a user. It's not a critique when you claim this fic is a fail seal master fic without explanation why, and to be honest... unless you can write a superb seal master fic like Myoushou no Fuuin or Guardian of fire, I will ignore you...  
If you don't like prodigy Naruto fic, then don't bother reading 10 chapters of my story. If it's not your cup of tea you should have quit around chapter 4 or 5. Beside in my opinion... if a kid who can master a kinjutsu in few hours, completing rasengan in one month, etc I don't know what else to call Naruto as...  
Yes, my story's pace is pretty slow... 10 chapters and only two years passed 0.0' incredible isn't it?! I keep the story in time period it is now because more explanations are needed and background setting for the time skip has to be written before I just jump to like... three years later. If my story is slow means I take my time to develop a good plot rather than rushing everything... and once again if a slow paced story is not your cup of tea don't bother to keep reading.

I don't mind critique, but I mind insult very much especially if the reason is because my story is not to your liking in term of plot.


	12. 12th Legacy

**Once again in Unsealing Legacy! Hello dear readers, this is the next chapter you've been waiting for and it thanks to Garrorar for helping me to bring it for you in better quality!  
At any rate this is some sort of intermission chapter, since as some reviewers commented is one heavy and packed with action chapter. The fight in last chapter is one of the best I ever wrote... but it's also long and tedious to write. I am sure my readers also bored and skip lots of it... ;_; I need practice to organize fighting scene in better arrangement. Even I who wrote it, keep falling asleep and bored... **

**So here is a breather for you! More funny but also serious!**

* * *

**"Danzou, you alone are not Konoha."**  
Hakurei to Danzou, a message from Uzumaki Naruto

**12th Legacy: Whirling Chronicle**

Shin had to admit their somewhat desperate decision to accept Uzumaki Naruto's help was probably the best thing he ever did for his little brother. The moment he said yes, Uzumaki asked them to show the tracking seal Danzou put on them. He even ignored his teammates' protests that he needed to recover before attempting anything chakra related. Naruto pointed out that they had to do it now or risk their safety if Danzou found out Shin and Sai were alive. It only took the blond a few minutes scrutinizing the tracking seal on their collar bone, a slight pain from chakra burns, and just like that the tracking seal was gone. Naruto claimed the seal was indeed a high level one but the design was based on a standard tracking seal, and that anyone from the tower could crack it in record time. Fortunately due to Tower's isolated nature, Danzou was pretty much out of touch with the recent seal developments in the tower so he had no idea that his seal was already outdated.

Maybe for Uzumaki Naruto, what he did was as significant as slapping away a mosquito. But to the shinobi of Ne, the Ne Himo no Fuuin (Seal of Root Leash) was the shackle that becomes thicker and stronger like a growing root throughout their life. Shin and Sai knew they were not completely safe from their former master yet, but freedom from that seal felt like a burden on their shoulders was lifted. Shin hadn't even managed to say a thank you when Uchiha Shisui grabbed Naruto who seemed ready to keel over and carried the young seal master on his back, screaming about brats who don't know their own limits.

Uchiha Itachi asked them to follow, the ANBU subtly slowing his pace so he walked right behind them. The Uchiha heir's attitude of being vigilant around them did not offend Shin, since just a while ago they were trying their best to kill his friend after all. Sai and Shin were really surprised to see that Tou and Rui were captured. They were not as strong as their cousins Torune and Fuu, but they were still a part of Ne's elites. Sai calmly noted that Tou and Rui were unconscious and being the observant brat he was, Sai was puzzled as to why their condition was similar to the paralyzed state that the Iwazaru no Fuuin causes.

Shisui had a shit-eating grin on his face in response, "Of course it looks like that, they're really paralyzed because of the seal Danzou put on your tongue."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at them, and even without activating his Sharingan Shin could honestly say that the Uchiha heir didn't need them to be intimidating. "I am sure Danzou informed you that The Tower of Seals is off limits for you, do you know why?"

Sai shook his head, "We were only told that the consequences would be dire for us and Ne."

It seemed that Danzou really loved playing the cryptic bastard, Shisui thought. Then again Danzou was too proud to tell his subordinates about one of his greatest mishaps. Shisui pointed at the seal grafted bandage that bound the two elites of Ne, "See this seal? This is the reason why you Ne-folks are banned from The Tower." Shisui grinned, "This seal is a nasty trap for anyone who has the Iwazaru no Fuuin on their body, it forcefully activates your seal even if you're mute. I heard Danzou had the shame of a life time when Hakurei-dono sent him back his crippled agents who tried to spy on the Tower." Sai and Shin blanched at that, all of them were given a taste of the pain the seal could inflict after it was grafted on them. They didn't doubt it at all that continuous activation would cripple even the strongest Shinobi.

Sai swallowed while Shin paled at the memory, the pain he experienced when he almost slipped his agreement about Sai with Danzou was immense. And judging from constant spasms that ran through the elite's bodies, Shin knew they had to be feeling the pain continuously. And from the look the Uchiha cousins gave them, Shin and Sai weren't stupid to be oblivious of the implied threat. If they dare to betray Naruto, they would face the same fate as Tou and Rui.

"Don't worry, we kept the effect to a minimum to keep them unconscious. They're in no danger of dying." Itachi stated. "This is the seal called **Kannon no Ōkanno Fuuin-** Kannon's crown seal... "Itachi continued, "A fitting name, don't you think?"

A testament of how the Tower, especially the Shiomitsu clan loved to slight those who dared to make an enemy out of them. Danzou in particular was their favorite target. This ward type seal was named after the mythological crown Goddess Kannon used on Son Goku to control him, basically a crown to control an arrogant monkey like Danzou as Hakurei put it. That was one rare moment where he and Shisui were thoroughly scared out of their wits by Hakurei who was five times older than they were. The old seal master had a borderline psychotic smile as he regaled the tale of how red Danzou was when he and his twin brother told the old war hawk that the tower was off limits and Danzou was welcomed to try. Also, because Danzou keyed in his chakra to the Iwazaru no Fuuin, which requires him to have a control seal engraved on his body, the ward would affect the old war hawk too. Danzou of course never tried his luck. The old cripple tried to get around the seal for years but so far he never succeeded. Danzou was proficient in the sealing arts, but he was no match to Hakurei. Sarutobi was thoroughly confused as to why the twins kept asking him to extend an invitation to Danzou for tea ever since, or why his rival fumed whenever he gave the message. Of course it didn't take long for the Sandaime to find out, and the old kage wisely kept it to himself.

* * *

**Konoha, Hokage's Tower **

"This is unreasonable." Hiruzen gritted out to his old friend and comrade, though after everything they had gone through the Sandaime didn't know if he could still call Hakurei as such and vice versa.

Hakurei, being the old manipulative bastard he was didn't back down even when the Sandaime started leaking killing intent. "It's reasonable." Hakurei retorted, "Naruto-sama doesn't need distractions."

"You just want to keep him attached to The Tower and your people, cutting his ties with Konoha!" The Sandaime spat in anger, "You have no right! Kakashi and Jiraiya have the right be in his life, Kakashi was like a surrogate son to Minato and Jiraiya is his godfather!"

The seal master snorted, "Cutting his ties with Konoha? You think so lowly of me now, Hiruzen?" He shook his head, "I have not forbidden him to be a Shinobi of Konoha, or become a friend of Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui. Don't you forget Hiruzen; my clan is a vassal of the Uzumaki. I have no right to dictate his life! If Naruto-sama wants to protect this ungrateful village, then so be it. I doubt I could convince him to do otherwise… in spite of everything, this place is his home."

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed at that, "And yet you requested me to withhold information about Naruto from Kakashi and Jiraiya… to tell them nothing other than that he was safe and sound in Konoha."

Hakurei crossed his arms, "What's the difference from what you've told them? I know they never tried to inquire more than you told him of his life!" Sarutobi flinched at that, "They fear the guilt that would consume them if they know… that they abandoned him to hateful villagers that couldn't differentiate between the prison and prisoner!"

"I told them to stay away! How easy did you think it would be to put two and two together if they're involved with a blond blue eyed child?!" The Sandaime gritted out. "It would put Naruto-kun in danger!"

"Of course!" Hakurei agreed in sardonic tone, "The villagers of Konoha are much dumber than our enemies that they couldn't see that! Ha!" He barked a laugh that eerily reminded Sarutobi of Hashirama-sama when he was drunk.

Sarutobi gritted his teeth, "You couldn't compare them, and the villagers couldn't even bear to look at Naruto's face to…"

Hakurei slammed his fist on his desk, "There you say it! Did that Hatake brat and Jiraiya ever told you how much it pains them to see Naruto-sama? I bet they couldn't! I don't know them, I admit… but their absence from Naruto-sama's life tells me that much! You order them to stay away? Since when… did you think that two of the most brilliant shinobi in Konoha couldn't get around of that simple restriction? They probably didn't even put up a fight when you asked them!"

The Sandaime ran his fingers through his wrinkled face, ashamed that he couldn't defend Jiraiya and Kakashi. Though to be fair, there's nothing to defend. "Hakurei… while it's understandable you don't want them to be anywhere near Naruto-kun, the decision is still Naruto-kun's… if one day…"

Hakurei snorted, "Of course that's if that one day ever comes, I wouldn't prevent them… however… if they want to be in his life they have to earn that right and not just take it for granted because of who they were to Naruto-sama's parents."

"They're…"The Sandaime trailed off.

"Nobodies who had done nothing for Naruto-sama." Hakurei cut the old kage off, "Their relationship with Minato-kun and Kushina-sama is meaningless to me the moment they chose to live in bliss of ignorance of Naruto-sama's suffering."

Sarutobi clenched his fist, he knew that but whenever someone tells him to his face it was still painful to accept. Kakashi was still grieving, and even when he was barely able to hold himself together Sarutobi couldn't imagine how Kakashi could bear to look at the splitting image of his sensei and Kushina. Jiraiya… was faring better than Kakashi, but the sannin was still wallowing in guilt for not being there when Minato died. Both of them saw Naruto as a reminder of their loss.

"Very well…" He conceded reluctantly, "I will do as you say Hakurei, as long as you do the same."

Hakurei nodded, "Of course, unlike your villagers… I know of my obligations."

Sarutobi sighed wearily, "It seems you've taking a liking in guilt-tripping me, Hakurei…"

He snorted, "I don't… but unfortunately everything concerning my brother..." Sarutobi flinched, "And Naruto-sama… are things that give you guilt. Guilt that you won't overcome anytime soon." He shook his head, "You have made a lot of mistakes Sarutobi and I don't know if I could ever forgive you, but you have to know one thing…"

"… What is it?"

"I will never betray Naruto-sama, and in extension Konoha. I won't betray Konoha, for his sake." He stated solemnly, "Be grateful to Naruto-sama for that."

"I owe Naruto-kun too much already… I guess I will start to pay the debt in mine and Konoha's behalf."

Hakurei snorted, "About time."

* * *

**Koishi no Kuni (**Country of Pebbles)

They took a detour to a small village, renting a room to rest for the night. Shin and Sai were tasked to carry Rui and Tou to their room Shinobi style-via a window so they wouldn't need to waste chakra to disguise their captives. They rented one big room enough for five people, Tou and Rui didn't count since Shisui made sure they wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Shin was really glad he and Sai weren't in their position now, since on top of the **Kannon no Ōkanno Fuuin-** Kannon's crown seal, Uchiha Shisui placed a chakra suppression seal, a tracking seal, and any number of seals you could name to be placed on prisoners. Shinobi could never be too careful, but they were really going overboard with their paranoia especially if the concerned captives were out cold. Shin was sure that even if Tou and Rui could wake up now, it was next to impossible for them to escape.

The Uchiha cousins were really dangerous people, Shin thought. He quickly amended that when Shisui placed the stack of seals back into one of Naruto's storage seals, wondering out loud if they had used up all the types of seals that Naruto prepared in case of having captives. Sai and Shin at the same time looked at the sleeping Uzumaki Naruto in disbelief. He never struck them as someone who was paranoid enough to be this crazily prepared, especially with how reckless he fought and how he lectured his enemies in the heat of battle. On top of that, he easily offered help to someone who just tried to kill him, going as far as providing asylum even.

Then again, you couldn't judge Shinobi from their cover.

The said Uzumaki Naruto was pretty much out of commission though. It seemed in spite of being a jinchuuriki and an Uzumaki the blond was not infallible. The fight was really taking a toll on the Uzumaki's heir, his superficial wounds were healing nicely but the stress his chakra coils suffered have caused a fever and immense pain. Sai and Shin were worried but they didn't dare come close because the Uchihas looked ready to kill them if they ever did. The Uchiha cousins fussed over the blond in a subtle but creepily mother-hen-ish manner. In spite of everything they were sure Uzumaki Naruto was not in danger of dying, so they watched in thorough bemusement at the scene.

Uchiha Itachi especially – and there's really only one word for it – _hovered. _Uchiha Shisui at least while being worried gave the Uzumaki his space, Shisui eventually chose to tend to their captives to make sure the seals were working properly, and not in danger of dying. Uchiha Itachi in the other hand was close to hysterics in spite of the Uchiha's signature stoic face. The Uchiha sat beside Naruto's futon, a slight crease in his brow as he all but catered to Naruto's needs without the blond ever opening his mouth to request anything, a change of clothes, a wet cloth for compress, wiping sweat, drinks and so on.

"Itachi…" Naruto opened his eyes slowly, one of his eyes closed as Itachi wiped the sweat near his eyebrow. "It's getting late… you need to rest too..."

The Uchiha heir frowned, "I would be fine." His voice was even, but Naruto could tell Itachi was being stubborn.

Naruto sighed wearily at that, "Itachi… don't be stubborn, you're even weaker than Shisui in terms of stamina… if you force yourself you'll not be in top condition for travel." Naruto could hear Shin's breath hitch even though he was sitting in far corner with Sai, the white haired boy probably found it funny Naruto chided _the_ Uchiha Itachi so bluntly like that.

Itachi opened his mouth to protest but Shisui entered the room with two trays of food, "It's a bit late for dinner but I think we need to fill our stomachs with something before we sleep." He said as he put one tray near Itachi and Naruto, the other was placed near the surrogate brothers. "You guys should eat too, it's just porridge, hot spring boiled eggs and pickled radish though."

Shin beamed as he bowed to Shisui in gratitude followed by Sai, "Thanks!"

In another corner of the room Naruto scowled, "Itachi." He began, glaring at the spoon that shoved in front of his mouth by Itachi. "I can eat by myself."

"Your arm is fractured, remember?" Itachi pointed out.

"It's not my dominant arm!" Naruto retorted with a huff.

"Don't be stubborn." Itachi said, echoing Naruto's words from before. "Just eat."

Naruto flushed a deep red, "Look who's talking!" He pointed an accused finger at the Uchiha, and Itachi took his chance to shove the spoon on Naruto's mouth. "Hmph!"

In the end after arguing and failing to snatch the spoon from Itachi's hand for five minutes, Naruto gave in and let Itachi feed him... He never got sick before so he never had the chance, and even though his vassals catered to his needs whenever he asked–which was once in a blue moon–it was not the same. It was embarrassing but Naruto couldn't help but feel happy to be spoiled once in a while.

In spite of the indignant look he had on his face, Itachi was glad that Naruto allowed himself to be spoiled for once. Naruto had always tried to be independent when it comes to his needs. Even though he had everyone in the tower willing to cater his needs, Itachi knew that Naruto rarely asked for anything. He cooks, cleans, washes on his own, just like he had always done since the Hokage allowed him to live by himself. Itachi himself was rarely spoiled by his parents, and he grew up so fast that he became an adult by Shinobi standards the moment he became genin. Naruto on the other hand was simply never used to being spoiled by anyone, and was unfortunate enough to mature before he ever had the chance.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the faint smile on Itachi's face, a silent query of what he was smiling for. Itachi just chuckled softly as he gave Naruto another spoonful of porridge, and Naruto understood Itachi was happier than he was for this situation. Itachi was so weird sometimes, not that he disagreed. It felt… nice.

* * *

**Hi No Kuni's border, 2 hours journey from Konoha**

"So… Naruto, we got two ex-Ne brats and two lackeys with us." Shisui said to Naruto who was hitching a ride on Itachi's back.

After a lot of arguments on their part, Naruto gave in and let Itachi help him on the way back since he was not in a prime condition to travel. Naruto had recovered from his wounds but he still had a fever and would often get slightly dizzy, unfortunately they couldn't afford another day to rest on the road. There are still problems ahead concerning their captives though.

"What's our plan?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the genjutsu expert, "We have a plan?"

"We do?" Itachi chimed in.

Shisui's left eye twitched at the deadpan response from his teammates; sometimes they were so alike that it was annoying. "We should! Why bring those four if we don't? How the hell do we explain them to the Shinobi doing gate duty?!"

The blond rolled his eyes, "Logically we'd use a backdoor and use kage-bunshin to walk through the front gate to avoid suspicion."

Shisui blinked owlishly at that, "I thought you didn't have a plan?!" He asked in an incredulous tone.

"Shisui… that's not really a plan as much as it's just the logical thing to do when you have extra baggage and don't want to explain the circumstances of how you got it." Itachi pointed out in solemn tone.

The curly haired Uchiha scowled, "Not everyone can be you and Naruto." He mumbled under his breath, "Aah… at least that's one problem out of the way." He deadpanned.

Shin who was walking with Sai a few steps ahead from them rolled his eyes, "So now we're extra baggage." He grumbled in annoyed tone, _man… Rui is heavy!_

Sai who had Tou on his back nodded in agreement, "We are."

Two hours later after their kage bunshin greeted the sleepy guards, Naruto and his team used one of Shiomitsu's secret passages to reach the tower. Tokusa and Shion caught up with them mid-way to check on their condition. The Shiomitsus were enraged upon knowing Naruto's condition and would have gotten in on another argument with the Uchihas but Naruto chided them before they could. They had more pressing concerns in hand now. Shion in particular was hysteric that their master wanted to bring Ne members to the Tower. Tokusa was not sure it was a good idea either, but it was their young master's wish.

"We owe Uzumaki-san our life." Shin stated calmly, "I understand that you can't trust us, but we have nowhere to go and we're already dead to _that man_."

Sai nodded hesitantly. "Nii-san is right."

Shion frowned at them, "As if we can just…" He trailed off.

"Besides!" Shin cut him off, "We're damn weaker than you all! I am sure anyone here can kill us even in their sleep! Not to mention Uchiha Shisui confiscated our weapons, so we're really helpless now!" He declared proudly.

"…" Sai stared at his surrogate brother and wondered if Shin was losing his sanity.

"You know…" Shisui began, "There's nothing to be so proud about your current condition."

"I am not!" Shin agreed. "I am just telling the truth!"

Tokusa's left eye twitched, "You don't sounds like someone helpless for sure."

Shion rubbed his head. "So there's someone like this in that man's organization… "

Tokusa stared at Shin in amazement, "Why are you not brain dead yet in Ne?" He wondered out loud.

"Because I'm awesome?" Shin guessed.

At moment all of them sans Naruto and the ex-Ne thought, _no wonder Danzou wanted him dead._

"At any rate..." Naruto trailed off, "Shion, we need you to place a barrier on them. If not they won't be able to enter the tower."

Shion hesitated but as a Shiomitsu, he was a vassal of the Uzumaki and would obey their commands. "As you wish... young master." Shion was a blacksmith seal master like other Shiomitsu clan members, and he was the first disciple of Hakurei. While he was a formidable combat seal master himself, he was a seal master that specialized in creating barriers, which are called Kekkaishi.

Shion ordered Sai and Shin to show him their backs, which made the two stiffen. Shinobi don't expose their backs so easily, and it was hard to fight their ingrained instincts as Shion's brush painted a seal on their backs. "Please relax." Shion instructed coolly, "The next procedure would be slightly unpleasant." The seal master formed four hand seals, Ox-Tori-Snake-Dragon!

"**Kesshō shōheki no Fuuin**-Crystal Barrier Seal!"

Shin and Sai gasped when Shion slammed his chakra-coated hands on their backs and they were sent sprawling to the ground. Shisui couldn't help but burst to a fit of laughter when he saw the two had their faces comically planted on the ground. "Ha ha ha ha ha!"

The brothers groaned in pain as they stood up, their eyebrows twitched when they saw particles of chakra glimmering above their skin. "What the hell is this?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Shisui laughed louder, tears pooling on the corner of his onyx eyes. "You gave them bishie sparkles!"

Shion turned at Shisui with murderous look on his face, "I beg your pardon?" He snarled.

The curly haired Uchiha snorted, "My sides hurt! Seriously Shion! I didn't know there's a seal to give someone bishie sparkles! And here I thought it's only a privilege of bishies like Itachi!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "Since when have I ever sparkled?" He wondered out loud.

"Shion-niisan is the best kekkaishi of the tower!" Tokusa roared at his rival, "How dare you insult our barrier technique!"

"Geez! Can't you take a joke! I swear sometimes you're worse than the majority of my clan, have you no sense of humor?" Shisui asked cheerfully.

Naruto sighed, and decided to interrupt before they got into another argument. "Your bickering makes my headache worse, can you please speak softer?" The Shiomitsu clamped their mouths shut, horrified that they made their master even more uncomfortable. Shisui quieted down but snickered at the Shiomitsu's horrified face. "Shion... do the same to the other two. We can't have them crippled because of our ward..." Naruto motioned to Tou and Rui, "Make sure the other suppressant seals are still in place... we don't need them waking up anytime soon."

"Hai! Naruto-sama!" Tokusa and Shion chorused.

* * *

**The Tower of Sealing (Fuuin no Tou)**

It took Naruto less than half an hour to explain the situation and how he predicted Danzou could react, which would trouble both The Tower and Uchiha clan if they acted recklessly. The Uchiha cousins watched with a sense of trepidation when Naruto mischievously leaned in and whispered something to Hakurei's ear conspiratorially, earning a smirk from the aged seal master.

"I don't see why not?" Hakurei said with a voice that was far too calm for someone who just received shocking news of how his master was attacked and brought back two defected Ne kids and two captives to boot. Shin and Sai gaped at the old seal master, he granted their request for asylum so easily! They thought the tower hated Ne with passion and yet they were off of the hook just like that?

Hakurei sighed wearily, "Of course... we're going to be putting a tracking seal and other standard seals for captives under probation... we also can't let you out of our tower for at least..." He trailed off, "A year or so? It depends on how you behave of course."

Naruto who insisted to be present in Hakurei's office smiled at his oldest vassal, "Thank you Hakurei..."

The old seal master crossed his arms, "Well... I can see your reason to give asylum to Sai-kun, young master..."

"That's not my only reason you know..." Naruto murmured with a sigh. "He and his brother need it, and I couldn't let them be discarded on Danzou's whim..."

Hakurei cleared his throat, and then looked at the puzzled ex-Ne children. "First of all... you should know that you received asylum in our tower because of Naruto-sama's generosity." He stated firmly.

Naruto groaned, "Hakurei... can we please just get on with it."

"Of course young master." Hakurei replied with a smile, "That's the first reason, second... it's because of Sai's unique skill... " The painter shinobi blinked owlishly at that, "I am sure that Danzou told you, animating ink is unique to you alone." Sai nodded hesitantly at that, "That's a lie, there's used to be a small clan in Uzushiogakure, seal masters who specialize in animating ink... the Sanseki clan. They're a small clan but close to the Uzumaki and Shiomitsu clans... when the village fell... they left together with another half of my clan that was supposed to arrive a few years after mine to Konoha… but they were attacked and separated." He shook his head sadly, "You're probably one of the last of them..."

Sai's eyes went wide at that, "I have a clan?"

Naruto smiled at the pale skinned boy, "Yes of course... you do."

Shion who stood beside Hakurei's chair blanched, "Shishou... you don't mean that Danzou, he..."

The blond sighed, "I suspected as much when I saw Sai for the first time..."

Itachi and Shisui looked at each other, frowning at the implication. Hakurei nodded, "Danzou has been poaching children since forever, but I thought he is smart enough to limit himself to war orphans... " He gritted his teeth, "I wouldn't put it past him since if he dared to poach from the Aburame and Yamanaka, he won't hesitate to steal Sai from survivors of Uzushiogakure..." Of course he didn't dismiss the possibility that Danzou was involved in the attack that separated his clan from the Sanseki. He recalled the rivalry between Danzou and Hiruzen was at its peak when Uzushio fell.

"So my parents are..." Sai murmured hesitantly.

Hakurei sighed wearily, "Danzou likes his recruits to be as young as possible, easy to mold to his liking..." One thing he shared with Hiruzen's traitorous student. "The Sanseki clan is relatively unknown outside of Uzushio..." And they were meant to be that way since they mostly work in reconnaissance missions, "If they had gone to hiding like the rest of Uzushio's survivors, it is likely that Danzou wouldn't hesitate to eliminate the adults so the trace of missing children is perfectly erased."

Shin hugged Sai comfortingly, he was glad Sai could find his origins but it was sad to know their former master killed their parents to get them. Sai didn't cry but Shin could tell the younger boy was shaken to the core by the revelation.

"Your name is Shin right?" Hakurei inquired.

Shin nodded, his arms still encircled around his brother protectively. "Yes... let me guess, my hair color is a common trait of a certain clan in Kiri or something?" He wondered out loud, at Hakurei's nod he sighed. "I have been told the color is unusual in Fire Country." His bluish grey hair was not common in Hi no Kuni but in Mizu no Kuni. It was likely that he wasn't from this country either, and considering Kiri's state of civil war... It's very likely his history was not so different from Sai's.

"I see..." Hakurei sighed, "Yes, I agree that you probably hailed from Kiri. Danzou has no bounds when it comes to recruiting for his foundation." He shook his head exasperatedly. "Considering Kiri's state... and other factors, I suggest you to not try to look for your clan. An unusual hair color usually meant a bloodline limit, and the Mizukage has recently gone mad and decided to slaughter all clans with bloodlines..."

Shin shook his head frantically, "Of course not, I will always be with Sai. Even though it's a bit sad that I probably would never meet my biological family, I have decided to be Sai's brother!"

"Nii-san..." Sai murmured, "Are you sure?"

"Of course! Do you think I have a heart to leave my beloved little brother for unknown family I have in bloody mist?" He asked in incredulous tone, "Not in thousand years!"

Hakurei watched Shin fussed over his surrogate brother, reminding him of his late brother Sangetsu. These children were so lucky they got a chance to start a new life after what Danzou had done to them, looking at the Yamanaka and Aburame they captured however, Hakurei was not sure if those two could ever live a normal life.

He cleared his throat, "Naruto-sama, what would you like me to do?" Hakurei asked in solemn tone.

His young master was still weak from the ordeal he had been put through yesterday, but he could see determination in those blue eyes. A sharp mind and a benevolent heart that made his clan fall in love with their young master. "Do your best Hakurei." He said with knowing smile.

The old seal master flashed a somewhat childish grin in response, "As you wish young master… I presume we will approach Yamanaka Inoichi and Aburame Shibi after I am done with a certain someone?"

Naruto laughed softly at that, "Ha ha ha… of course."

"Naruto-kun?" Itachi called, "You're not thinking to ask Hakurei-dono to…"

Hakurei grabbed the broad sword he hung on the wall of his office, the sword's length rivaled Tenrou with a thicker handle and a wider one edged blade. Shisui whistled when Hakurei took his arms off of his kimono sleeve, revealing a muscled and scarred body beneath. Shion stuttered at his teacher, "Shishou! You can't possibly be thinking of…"

"Remember your age!" Tokusa chimed in.

"Shut up brats!" Hakurei roared, hoisting his heavy blade against his shoulder. "You think I can stay idle after what that old cripple did to our master! I gotta go take him down a peg or two!" In his daily dealings Hakurei was a calm and composed sealing division's leader, but in private he was temperamental, boisterous and could swear like a sailor.

Shisui blinked owlishly, "Eh… in case you've forgotten, you're the same age as…hmph!" Itachi covered Shisui's mouth just in time before his cousin could mouth off the temperamental seal master. Hakurei bowed to his young master who was still a bit red on the face because of his fever and then went out of his office with triumphant look.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed then turned to Sai and Shin, "Tokusa, please show them a room to rest… and Shion, make a preparation to undo their **Iwazaru no Fuuin**." He shot the two an apologetic look, "The preparation will take the whole day, and until then… we have to keep you confined in a warded room. Shion's barrier will run out soon and it takes a lot of chakra…" It would be a long wait for them, and Naruto felt guilty he had to treat them like prisoners but they had no choice. They couldn't afford to deactivate the **Kannon no Ōkanno Fuuin-** Kannon's crown seal, and if they were exposed for even a moment to the wards, Shin and Sai would be in a lot of pain.

Sai shook his head, "Uzumaki-san, you have already helped us a lot, waiting for one more day is no trouble for us…"

Shin bobbed his head up and down, "Yeah! We've already been locked for three days without food and water to develop our resistance! This would be a piece of cake! Waiting for one more…" He trailed off then clamped his mouth shut.

All the Shinobi in the room unconsciously emitted killing intent at the story Shin unintentionally blurted out. Shinobi or not, that kind of training was simply inhuman for children as young as they were. Shin didn't say anything as he and his brother were led by Tokusa to their room to rest, but all of them knew there must have been children that didn't survive Danzou's harsh training. Children died all the time in the Shinobi world, especially during war. However in case of Ne's children, they had no say in their life at all and died for an ideal that's not theirs. It was sad that in a way Ne exists because Konoha needed them, and in the process their village gave a great deal of leeway in their dealings, quite possibly far too much leeway.

* * *

**Hokage's Tower **

Hatake Kakashi was tired of living sometimes. It was a sick blessing that his father's suicide prevented him from doing the same. Kakashi didn't want to choose that easy way out of his misery. He had lost so many people in his life to a point that he was so tired of it, the reason he joined ANBU was to save his comrades in the most dangerous missions available to Konoha ANBUs. To prove that Kakashi Hatake who had failed to save his teammates and sensei was still capable of protecting his comrades.

He just wanted a reason to keep living after so many mistakes that cost him their lives, Obito, Rin and Minato-sensei. Obito and Rin were dead because of his arrogance and carelessness. You would think after Obito's death, Kakashi would have learned that a mission could easily go south and beyond. He had to fuck up again in a simple reconnaissance mission and Kiri Shinobi captured Rin. He managed to save Rin from Kiri's clutches a few days later, or so he thought but when he found out from Rin what they had done to her, he knew he had once again failed to protect his teammate.

Kiri had made her a jinchuuriki, one with a timer seal that would fail the moment they reached Konoha's border. Rin pleaded that she was just their pawn now, so he should kill her to protect Konoha. How could she ask him to break his promise to Obito? Even if it's for Konoha's sake?  
In the end he killed Rin, or rather she made him do it. Kakashi would be lying if a part of him wasn't relieved by her choice. Sometimes to Shinobi, death was just a better option than living, and this was one of those moments. Rin accepted his killing blow, and he even saw her nod in gratitude.

Everything went black after that. Kakashi expected him to be killed there but at least he and Rin would be dead to suffer whatever the pissed off Kiri nins were going to put them through. He regretted that he didn't have enough chakra left to destroy Obito's sharingan though, but Obito would have chosen to save Rin rather than ensuring his eyes didn't fall to enemy hands. He would apologize to Obito later in the afterlife.

Miraculously after he lost consciousness from shock and chakra exhaustion, Rin's body was still there and the Kiri team was dead, mauled by something beyond recognition. Kakashi brought Rin's body with him to Konoha, puzzling over miracle that left him alive.

He thought he was cursed, the Kyuubi had killed Minato-sensei and Kushina-neesan, why did everyone have to die while he was left alive? Did someone above hate him so much that they let him live in this world to keep failing to protect those he held dear?

Kakashi decided to avoid his sensei's legacy, fearing the curse would follow and the baby would die on him too. It was an excuse of course; he knew but he couldn't help it. When Naruto was four, he braced himself to at least go to take a look at him in the orphanage. It was painful to see the boy; he looked so much like his parents, and he had bubbly and cheerful personality like Obito and Kushina. It was as if the boy existed to torture him. It was not Naruto's fault to be born the way he was, but Kakashi feared for his sanity if he was too close and lost Naruto too. He was still too weak, too pitiful to enter Naruto's life. The Hokage as if knowing of his dilemma forbid him to be in direct contact with Naruto, fearing someone would make the connection between Yondaime's legacy and his last surviving student. Kakashi didn't know if he hated the Sandaime or was grateful to him for it.

Today was the first time he returned to Konoha after six months, a rare long term ANBU mission that required him to be in Hi no Kuni's borders. As usual whenever he reported to the Hokage he asked about Naruto's whereabouts, nothing detailed, as long as he knew his sensei's son was alive and breathing he could live with that. He didn't want to know what kind of shitty childhood Naruto had to go through because of his jinchuuriki status; he didn't want to hope to be there for Naruto, and risk failing to protect his precious person again.

However since the last year the Hokage started to act a little weird whenever he asked, usually the Sandaime _tried_ to go add little details about Naruto's life, which he mostly tried to tune out. Such as the boy's latest prank, how much ramen he could inhale in one go, or how bad he was doing in class and so on. However since last year the old kage just answered his query curtly, Naruto was fine and well cared for, no more details. The last time he heard of Naruto, the boy started to take his education seriously and became a history buff for some unexplainable reason.

As far as Kakashi concerned that was a sign Naruto was doing well in life, and he didn't need Kakashi to be there for him. Good for both of them then.

While one of his best Shinobi was in the bliss of ignorance after leaving his office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. He was feeling old and tired more than ever, hopefully there's no more trouble coming their way for a long while. He was not sure if he could survive the next conflict with his sanity intact.

Unfortunately for Sarutobi Hiruzen, he had no idea what's going to happen between his two old comrades.

* * *

**Ne's Headquarters **

Danzou scowled when he received the intel about his subordinate's confrontation with Uzumaki Naruto and his Uchiha teammates. He didn't mind that none of the Ne trainees he sent survived the confrontation, but the blasted Uchihas killed his fully pledged Shinobi and left only three to return to him. Unfortunately the three were assigned to separate the jinchuuriki away from the Uchiha, so they had no idea of what happened in confrontation between the failures he sent and the jinchuuriki.

As if that's not bad enough he lost Aburame Tou and Yamanaka Rui. Contrary to what Sarutobi believed, he never stole children from the Aburame and Yamanaka clans. Both clans were prominent in Konoha, and considered as nobility in their village while the other was vassal of a noble clan. However there are members of both clans who believed in his vision of Konoha. They're loyal to him and ideal Konoha he strived for, and he used them for the greater good of Konoha. They were as frustrated as he was with the softhearted Sarutobi, and that their clan heads were loyal to someone like him.

He was snapped out of his musings when the door of his office was torn open by a familiar broad sword, and he was greeted by the maniacal grin of his old enemy. "Shiomitsu… Hakurei." The jinchuuriki made it back to the tower it seemed, and his lapdog was pissed.

"Yo… Danzou! It's been a long while since the last time I saw your ugly face." The Shiomitsu said as one of his legs stepped on Danzou's desk.

Danzou sighed as he could see the body trail Hakurei made on the way from the destroyed door. He wondered how a crude man like Hakurei managed to get here without triggering a single alarm. Then again this man was someone he considered his and Hiruzen's equal. He was also a formidable combat seal master, Danzou was sure Hakurei could give him or Hiruzen the run for their money.

"I see you have come because my boys roughed up your precious prince a little?" Danzou asked in saccharine tone.

Hakurei snorted at that, the way Danzou called his puppets sounded like they were precious enough for the war hawk to care for their fates. "Oh please… do you have any idea who are you dealing with?" He asked testily as he brought down his sword on Danzou.

"I can say the same to you…" Danzou returned, blocking Hakurei's broadsword with his kunai. Danzou scowled at the heavy blow that almost sent him sprawling on the ground but before Hakurei cut him in two, Danzou jumped away from the seal master. His eyes narrowed, his precious mahogany table was being crushed under Hakurei's foot by each passing second. "A brute as always Hakurei… one couldn't tell what kind of Shinobi you are judging from how you engrossed yourselves in servitude to Uzumaki clan and the Tower."

"Heh! Long ago… when you still have a good head on your shoulders…" Hakurei droned, "I remember I was sent frequently by Mito-sama to support your team in the front lines." He said in a nostalgic tone, his eyes never leaving Danzou, "I still remember Kagami's stupid jokes, his son has the same terrible sense of humor by the way… "

Danzou frowned at the name of his deceased teammate, "If you're here just to talk about old days, just leave…"

Hakurei laughed softly, "Hit a nerve, didn't I? You're always a jealous one… especially of Hiruzen and Kagami, Tobirama-sama was always fond of those two…" Looking at Danzou's growing ire Hakurei dropped the issue, "But hey! I am not here to poke on your unresolved inferiority complex… I am here about two Ne boys you sent after my young master."

"Which one?" Danzou asked, although he had a feeling he knew which of them Hakurei was talking about.

"The pale skinned boy code named Sai and his brother Shin." Hakurei said as Danzou's desk was eventually crushed beyond repair under the pressure of his foot, and Danzou knew then that Hakurei was furious. "You dare to poach from _us_, you should be ashamed as a Konoha-nin to steal from Uzushio." Hakurei roared furiously.

* * *

**The Tower of Sealing (Fuuin no Tou)**

"You just set Hakurei-dono on Danzou." Shisui muttered in disbelief for the fifth time since Hakurei left the tower. "Who are you, and what have you done to our sweet and fluffy Naruto?" He asked the blond accusingly.

Naruto scowled at that, since when he was he ever sweet and fluffy? He was not cotton candy! "For your information Shisui, regardless of what I say… Hakurei is close to blowing up as is, so I let him to confront Danzou on his own. The Shiomitsu may be my clan's vassals, but they can be as stubborn as the people of my clan." He huffed, "Besides, it's Hakurei! I trust him, there's nothing to worry about if it's him!" He chewed on a bunny shaped apple Yuzuriha cut thoughtfully for him. "If he and Danzou fought, you should worry about Danzou, not Hakurei."

Shisui rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well… I have to admit he is pretty cut out for an old guy." Man! He would love to have that kind of musculature!" Uchiha men unfortunately seemed to be incapable of developing that kind of build, even though most of them have fit bodies they seem to be built towards lean muscles instead of manly bulkiness that old man Hakurei has.

"Is that all you see? Muscle?" Naruto sweat-dropped at dreamy look Shisui had. "At any rate… Hakurei has dealt with Danzou for so long, if there's anyone who knows how to deal with that war hawk… it's either him or Hokage-sama." Though the Sandaime was too lenient most of the time when it comes to Danzou.

Itachi nodded in agreement, Out of all Shiomitsus, Hakurei was undoubtedly the oldest but also the most dangerous by miles. The first time Itachi met Hakurei, his instincts flared and he knew instantly that this was not the feeble old man he seems to be. He had also seen how the Sandaime interacts with Hakurei, and he knew the old Kage respects Hakurei as an old comrade and an equal. Age in the Shinobi world meant strength since you're good enough to survive for so long, especially in the case of the Sandaime's generation that had gone through not one but two world wars.

The Uchiha heir turned to his cousin, "By the way Shisui… how about that one Shinobi you put under your genjutsu?"

Shisui flashed him a victory sign, and tossed a scroll to Itachi. "Danzou probably never considered a prospecting someone might put his puppet under a strong genjutsu and force them to write down everything they know about their foundation."

Naruto shrugged at that, adjusting the compress on his forehead. "It's a good thing you keep that ability confidential to your clan and select few… if Danzou ever finds out, you're going to be in big trouble and I won't put it past him to try to steal your eyes…"

Shisui winced, "Oi oi… don't scare me Naruto."

"It's true." Itachi agreed, "You should be careful Shisui…" The Uchiha's scion joined in, "Not to mention his grudge against your father..."

Shisui looked a bit green at the prospect, "You know... I am more worried of the prospect of what someone like Danzou would do with my eyes rather than the stealing bit."

Okay... they might be going overboard with scaring Shisui, but it was a legitimate concern. "Shisui calm down... I will think of something for you alright?" Naruto assured the genjutsu expert, and then he frowned as something relevant crossed his mind. A certain clan who prided their seal for protecting their bloodline. "Which reminds me... the Hyuuga clan's request came in recently to renew the wards in their compound."

The Hyuuga had been pretty stubborn with their all-seeing eyes saying that they didn't need security seals, which backfired spectacularly when their heiress was almost kidnapped five years ago. The agreement the Hyuuga clan made was with the previous division leader, so Hyuuga Hiashi deemed it prudent that the Tower had to renew the wards the traitor designed for them. In fact the tower had been flooded with the same requests ever since the news of Aizen's betrayal was leaked to public. So far they managed to keep all the clan heads in line for the tower to work on a new seal design. It didn't help that each clan have different preferences and needs. The Inuzuka wanted no disruptions to their sense of smell and the barrier shouldn't make their canine partners feels caged. The Aburame wanted the same for their kikaichuu, and noted that the seals should not bring harm to their insects. The Hyuuga wanted the barrier to be easy on their eyes since for them the amount chakra emitted by conventionally strong barrier seals was irritating for their eyes to look at.

Naruto had his clones helping left and right whenever he could, and his missions usually consisted of warding noble houses for most of the time because everyone in Tower was occupied with the Konoha's clans' demand. Fortunately they were recruiting more people now from the regular shinobi force, and in a few years the number of seal masters both combat and non-combat effective would increase. Hopefully they would survive this busy period intact, and that Danzou would leave them alone for now _or_ else.

"Hyuuga?!" Shisui squeaked. "Don't they have that seal, which could seal their byakugan upon death?"

The blond jinchuuriki nodded, "I am reminded of them because the Hyuuga claim it's to protect their doujutsu." He shook his head at that, "What a load of bullshit, since the main house members are still a fair game if our enemy wants to steal their eyes, and what is stopping someone from subduing, then sedating the branch house members? Allowing their enemies to take their eyes when they're still alive?" He wondered out loud, shaking his head in dismay.

Shisui blinked owlishly at that, Itachi just stared at Naruto. The former was pretty obvious but the latter... **"Why did they never think of that?"** They chorused in amazement, half-shouting.

Naruto sweat-dropped at them, "Don't tell me you also never realized this _blatant_ loophole before?" He asked in incredulous tone.

Both Uchihas flushed, it was not like they were stupid but as part of a prestigious clan it had been ingrained in them to not criticize another clan's traditions. Not to mention the Hyuuga clan was pretty touchy when it comes to the Uchiha, some of them still believed that the sharingan originated from their byakugan, and that the Uchiha was beneath them. The Uchiha clan on the other hand couldn't care less of what Hyuuga thought of their doujutsu, especially since both the Senju and Uchiha were without a doubt descended from the Rikudo Sennin. Prodigies of the Uchiha clan like Itachi and Shisui if anything solidified the superiority of the Sharingan in the public's eyes. It wasn't like there are no prodigies in the Hyuuga clan but they were no match for Itachi and Shisui.

"We never really thought about it." Itachi confessed with an embarrassed face, "Our relationship with the Hyuuga is already as shaky as it is."

Naruto sighed at that, "Well... I definitely won't bring this up, especially if the purpose of this seal is to avoid family disputes... not to mention it will come out as an insult to their intelligence."

"But still..." Shisui said with dumbfounded voice, "Now you've said it, what they're doing really seems stupid."

Itachi shook his head, "The Hyuuga are not fools Shisui... the main house especially, as Naruto said... want to avoid family disputes. The other reason would be that the use of the seal on their own family is already a tradition they couldn't live without at this point... though branch house members undoubtedly bear a grudge against the main house."

Shisui huffed, "Our clan is probably not one big happy family, but hey! At least we have no blatant grudge on each other like Hyuuga! ha ha ha..."

Neither Naruto nor Itachi laughed at Shisui's attempt to joke to brighten up the mood because their topic was too depressing. Itachi thought that even though they didn't enslave their own family, they had a blood traitor that almost destroyed their village. Naruto on the other hand didn't laugh because of Itachi, and he knew the younger Uchiha was thinking about the Uchiha who orphaned him at birth.

"On a happier note, I now know what to research on for my next promotion..." Naruto beamed.

Shisui looked at him curiously, "A seal to protect bloodlines?"

"That's still too difficult for me... maybe in few years..." Naruto said with a sigh, "Besides... if I want to be promoted to 5th Dan before the end of this year I need something simpler!"

"You just got promoted to 3rd Dan two months ago!" Shisui pointed out in disbelief.

Naruto scoffed, "I want to get to 9th Dan before my tenth birthday!" He declared in an indignant tone, somehow his voice came out as a childish whine and Naruto flushed a deep red as he covered his mouth.

Itachi looked amused by his rare childish behavior but didn't call it out. "Why you're so in hurry to get your 9th Dan?"

"Well..." Naruto trailed off, embarrassed to explain his motive. "You know that _unofficially_ I am the leader of the tower right?" At their nod he continued, "It's just... even though it's unofficial, they respected me as such and yet... I am just 3rd Dan seal master... it doesn't matter if I want the position or not but the respect they give me, I don't feel like I deserve it." He confessed and he yelped when Shisui suddenly hugged him from behind.

"Thanks goodness! You're not completely beyond help!" Shisui wailed.

Naruto blinked owlishly, then cringed when he saw Shisui's nose start running. "Eew! Shisui! Get off me!" He pushed the Uchiha away. "And what do you mean beyond help?! You talk as if I am a mental case!"

"No you aren't!" Shisui denied vehemently, "It's just sometimes I think you've invented a different version of the Uchiha's stoic and smug mask whenever you put on your public face... you know... the 'I am polite, innocent, and I can't even kill a bug!' kind of mask."

Naruto clapped suddenly, catching a stray mosquito on his hands. "There, I killed one. No remorse for cutting its one week life span." He deadpanned. "I am cruel enough to make its already short life shorter."

Shisui sighed at Naruto's sarcastic retort, "Sometimes... you act like an Uchiha more than me." He leaned in conspiratorially, "Are you sure you're not actually our fourth cousin twice removed or something?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Considering that the Uzumaki is closely related to both the Senju and Uchiha, maybe..." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Itachi snorted at that, "Our family relations aside, I think you should work on your rank on your own pace Naruto..."

"Says someone who became ANBU at eleven." Naruto said jokingly, "And graduated earlier than me."

"You were promoted to Chuunin earlier than I was, and a field promotion to boot. And I didn't graduate earlier than you..." Itachi returned, "Technically we graduated at the same age even though you got your headband five months later."

Shisui groaned, "If you're done one upping one another... can we please move on to the moving speech Itachi was attempting earlier? Naruto, you ruined his speech."

"Really?" Naruto faked an innocent clueless face, "Did I?" He asked Itachi with the innocent curiosity of the eight year old that he was.

Itachi shrugged, "I don't know Naruto-_kun,_ Shisui is being his usual theatrical self again."

Unknown to the three laughing Shinobis, a seal master stood frozen in front of the door to Naruto's room. They would have noticed Shion if he was a hostile presence, but he wasn't and Shion forgot to breath the moment Shisui jokingly mentioned the probability that he was related to them. And while normally, a conversation in Naruto's living room wasn't loud enough to be heard outside, the Shiomitsu always had a keen sense of touch and hearing due to their blacksmith background.

The seal master continued his stride as if nothing was amiss, even though childhood memories of when he was four came back to haunt his mind. It was a memory of Namikaze Muramasa holding his one year old son, and his dark haired wife who was wearing a kimono with small uchiwa pattern. The kimono's pattern was not that shocking as much as how when his wife went to speak with Shion's mother, out of earshot, the eccentric Muramasa-ojiisan jokingly mentioned that: had his brother in laws lived three months longer he would have married into the Uchiha clan, the Namikaze line would have ended, and Minato would have been Uchiha Minato and be the first blond Uchiha ever.

Shion wondered if his master remembered that Namikaze Mayumi was an Uchiha, and then he recalled that Mayumi was one of few Uchiha that was considered '_the odd one out'_ that sometimes popped up in the clan. So far there had been four cases like that, Mayumi, Minato's student, Shisui's father and Shisui himself. Considering he himself forgot that Mayumi was an Uchiha until just now even though he was old enough to remember her, it was very likely his master had also forgotten.

Then again a majority of the tower population who were old enough to know Muramasa _and _his wife tends to forget their eccentric side, and eventually painted him as a kind and skilled blacksmith and seal master. It was not like they couldn't respect Muramasa's eccentricities, they simply couldn't afford to not forget the trauma. They also forgot most things about his wife because Mayumi was an airheaded wife who always supported her husband's _dreams_ no matter what. Muramasa in spite of all the saintly qualities he had sometimes defied logic and common sense when he puts his mind on something, and Mayumi would follow him to the end of the world to accomplish it. Like that time when he was ten and innocent, Muramasa-ojiisan wanted to figure out how to store rain clouds in storage scrolls and then... he had to...

On second thought, he shouldn't try to recall that incident EVER.

Thankfully Naruto-sama and Minato-kun didn't inherit Muramasa's eccentrics, and as for revealing that Naruto-sama was indeed _related_ to the Uchiha: third cousin to Itachi and third cousin twice removed to Shisui from his paternal grandmother to be exact.

"...I guess none of us could stomach recalling so many things... "He murmured in a daze, "I'll suggest to Master Hakurei to ask Uchiha-dono to tell Naruto-sama... he is not as scarred as we are about..." Shion stopped then recalled the incident in which he and Fugaku had to save little Minato from Muramasa's cooking experiment that took residence in their fridge, and there's that one time Fugaku was almost killed when Muramasa allowed Minato to play with Tenrou. Which was ironic considering that sword was Itachi's now and it seems that Fugaku conveniently forgot the sword that almost made him die young.

Nah... Fugaku could handle it! As long as no one reminded him that the long pretty sword little Minato swung around was in his son's possession...

* * *

**Ne's Headquarter **

Danzou gritted his teeth, how dare Hakurei tell him to be ashamed for what he had done for Konoha's greater good. Uzushio was no more, and it was in a Shinobi's nature to betray their allies for their village. "I found Sai in abandoned house somewhere near Swamp Country… I saved that child." He lied smoothly.

"Is that so? Should I thank you for rescuing that boy and training him to be your emotionless puppet? Or for you to send him to a suicide mission because Shin couldn't throw his emotions away?" Hakurei asked in an incredulous tone, "Do you have any idea how long my clan has tried to find any member of the Sanseki clan that was separated from us? How many nights of sleep Kushina-sama lost because her childhood friend's clan was gone?" He shook his head, "Then again there's no use telling you this, someone as hollow as you won't give a damn!"

"So you've come for revenge?" Danzou asked calmly.

"Revenge?" Hakurei echoed, "Is your death going to bring the Sanseki clan back? Or ease Naruto-sama's pain for putting your pitiful puppets out of their misery?! No! As much as I want to rid this world of you, I know you're not someone I can just remove of because I want to." Just imagine the political nightmare that would follow, and how much damage the shit Danzou accumulated for years would deal when exposed to the public. "All I want is for you to leave those two alone, and I will not kill or rat you out to Sarutobi."

Danzou snorted, "You speak as if killing me is a walk in the park."

Hakurei narrowed his dark green eyes at the scarred Shinobi, "The old you won't be a walk in the park, but the current you?" The old war hawk stiffened at that, "I am a chakra sensor Danzou, one of the best in my clan… I can tell that you've recently been messing with your body and right now you're still adapting with the changes, aren't you?" Hakurei sighed, "Why you can't just age gracefully like the rest of us is beyond me… "

"Not all of us have Uzushio's secret for longevity." Danzou retorted.

"You think there's such a secret?" Hakurei asked in an incredulous tone, "Aah… then again I stopped caring for your opinions the moment you stole Iwazaru no Fuuin from us."

The war hawk narrowed his eyes, "As you have been integrated to Konoha's force you should have used all resources you have for Konoha's sake, and yet… you keep it for yourselves and guard it jealously. We have avenged the fallen Uzushio in the second and third war… giving Iwa, Kiri and Kusa a devastating defeat and yet…"

Hakurei sighed at that, "Danzou… to you power is neither evil nor good, power is just power! In our long history as seal masters we have learned to draw line between good and bad, because failing to do so would just destroy us… the Iwazaru no Fuuin is just one of the many achievements we'd like to bury forever." He drawled in a sad voice, "If the life expectancy in your foundation wasn't so low, you would have notice it. The consequences of Iwazaru no Fuuin."

Danzou frowned, "What do you mean? There's no consequence whatsoever written on the scroll…"

"Because your agent stole only the application procedure and never bothered to read the research journal... it's on a separated section so you can't really blame that recklessness." Hakurei pointed out testily, "Do you really think that a seal so deeply rooted to the chakra coils and affects brain signals is without risk? Have any of your marked ops reach… say… their thirties? Or forties? Depending on how long they have the seal on them, slowly but steadily they would start to lose muscle function and eventually be permanently paralyzed."

If the revelation disturbed Danzou, the war hawk didn't show it. "… I see…"

"I guess it's a good thing that the life expectancy of your foundation is so low. Death is preferable to what they'd suffer as a side-effect of the Iwazaru no Fuuin." Hakurei intoned with a sigh, "Then again I can't imagine the present you to care…" He shook his head at that, "So do we have a deal about those two?"

Danzou contemplated his choice; while he did send those two to their deaths he still saw them as an asset. However their worth was just that much, Shin and Sai knew so little about their foundation at this point so there shouldn't be too much damage if he let Hakurei to have them. "Very well… they're yours."

Hakurei grinned at that, "Good and keep your word Danzou or…"

"Or…" Danzou echoed mockingly.

"I recall that you lost a boar and a bug recently…" Hakurei sang amusedly as he saw a sliver of shock on Danzou's lone eye. "I am sure you want them back, rest assured… we keep them healthy and well rested." The old seal master assured the leader of Ne, how he loved watching Danzou squirming like a worm under the sun. "But you see… there's no way I can just return them to you, in fact I am thinking of sending them back to their compound! Where they belong!"

"You dare?" Danzou snarled.

Hakurei snorted, "Nah… don't worry, I think we can work on a deal that will benefit us both." Danzou's frown seemed to add more wrinkles on his aged face as Hakurei droned on his so called deal. "Not really going to benefit you much, but hey! This deal will probably save you from the worse brunt of the combined wrath of the Yamanaka and Aburame."

"You realize there's a possibility Yamanaka Inoichi and Aburame Shibi won't agree to this deal you spoke of?" Danzou inquired, he was in disadvantage but he had to agree that what Hakurei offered would save Ne. He had no delusions that Hakurei wanted to help him at all, but the conflict that would result from his mishap with two prominent clans of Konoha would bring danger upon their village.

Hakurei scowled as he rested the tip of his sword against the ground, "Do you think I was born yesterday? I've been aware for a while that some peoples seem to love your ideals, and they're willing to betray their own clans for you." He spat venomously. "I am sure you're also aware that both Inoichi and Shibi aren't blind, heck-the former is the head of T&I division for god's sake! They probably know but could do nothing since you can't just pin the members of your clan down to see if they have a seal on their tongue!"

"Oh?" Danzou murmured, "So you think you can get them to agree on this?"

He nodded at that, "You owe me." Well Danzou owes his young master to be precise, but Danzou didn't need to know that.

Or that they would pocket a favor from both the Yamanaka and Aburame, which Danzou didn't need to know either. Shibi and Inoichi were aware of Ne's claw on their clan for quite some time, but unfortunately had no evidence or idea as to which of their clan members belonged to the foundation. It didn't help that former's clan members were generally stoic and unemotional (on the surface, that is) that Ne's members easily mingled in. Yamanakas on the other hand were all mind art experts but unlike most clans in Konoha had no compound but lived separately, so it was next to impossible for Inoichi to keep an eye on all of them even if he was not already busy enough in T&I division. The Tower was giving them help to get rid of rotten roots from their clans; it's a win-win situation.

"Very well…" Danzou caved in.

Hakurei turned around, but Danzou had no delusions that the seal master dropped his guard at all. "Oh, and one more thing.." Hakurei said as he was one step out of Danzou's office, "Someone asked me to remind you this." The old seal master uttered in tired voice.

**"Danzou, you alone are not Konoha."**

Danzou frowned at that, "If this is another sermon that Hiruzen is…"

"Since when have I ever been his messenger boy?" Hakurei cut him off in droning tone. "It doesn't matter if you have any idea of what that's supposed to mean…" Hakurei's voice echoed through the hallway as the seal master walked away from the room, **"At this point, you're beyond help in my book!"** He shouted with vigor, which made Danzou cringe. There's a reason why he hated the Uzu's refugees, they tend to lose control of their volume when their emotions get the better of them.

The war hawk sat back to his chair that was thankfully left intact, and for a moment contemplated what that line was supposed to remind him of. That all Shinobi and civilians were part of Konoha? Or maybe his foundation that the Hokage had no authority of wasn't part of Konoha? How foolish, why should he be bothered by what Hakurei said? His ideal is for Konoha's greater good, that's all there is to it.

* * *

**OMAKE**

Naruto had taken a number of C rank missions for the last few months and frankly it was getting on his nerves. The first five missions were nothing more than glorified seal warding. In which he was paired with either the Uchiha cousins or Shiomitsu siblings, sometimes both. Apparently with the latest boost in the sealing arts of Konoha, the village deemed it prudent to widen their field of service, which resulted in warding nobles' residences. It paid much better than a normal C rank because the clients were rich pompous nobles, however as far as Naruto was concerned it was just a slightly better D rank mission.

This mission was another warding job, which required him, Tokusa, Itachi and Shisui to travel to a province called Owari in Land of Butterflies. Their client was a noble couple of the Oda clan, one of the richest noble clients of Konoha. Dealing with nobles was a chore most shinobi would refrain from doing if they could, especially with all the pleasantries and shit they had to spout to please the client. But this particular job was another level of annoying, and they would have throttled the client if not for the good pay. However, 30% higher pay rate be damned if that lady keeps looking at them like a dog in heat. It was not even funny that some noble like Lady Oda Nou had a taste for beautiful boys, which according to Shisui fit him and Itachi perfectly. For heaven's sake, Itachi was twelve! He was eight! And here he thought no one could be creepier than infamous Orochimaru and his experiments.

It was getting increasingly difficult to subtly dodge that lady's _affectionate_ hands during their short stay of warding her husband's residence. Naruto was glad her husband was around when he was drawing the ward seal array, because he won't appreciate distractions when he was doing his task and he wouldn't be able to stop Tokusa from throttling that lady if she dared to molest him. The next task of applying the point seal that marked the warded area was a bitch, because Lady Oda kept trying to invite them for tea breaks with her, which they politely declined. It didn't stop her from 'accidentally' running into them at least ten times in the three hours it took wandering around the manor to mark the area.

When the mission ended even Itachi looked ready to bolt from their seats after the lord of the manor inspected their handy work. Naruto appreciated the lord's compliments very much but he couldn't bear Tamamo's lusting gaze any longer, especially when she started drooling. How the hell Lord Oda didn't notice his wife's depravity, he didn't want to know. After they walked past the gate of the manor, they did what their instincts have been telling them since the mission started, and they ran like hell. After a few miles away from the Oda Manor they slowed down and decided to continue their two day journey back to Konoha in a slower pace.

"I think rather than being teammates, you guys are tasked to be my bodyguards." Naruto grumbled under his breath.

Shisui shrugged at that, "You can't blame Hokage-sama... you're one of the best seal masters we have and Konoha is flooded with warding requests from nobles now." Which had to be renewed every five years, meaning a steady income for Konoha, "You're inexperienced but to fulfill the client's demand we have to send you to foreign countries."

"It's unpleasant, but please bear with it Naruto-kun." Itachi drawled stoically, "The last thing we want is for other hidden villages to try and poach you from Konoha when you're out of Fire Country."

Tokusa nodded in agreement, I concur, Naruto-sama."

The blond sighed at that, it was ironic that for someone who had been ostracized for most of his life, he had to come to terms with the fact that he was vital for the continuity of the power balance in the shinobi world. At least he was not alone in that position, there were another eight poor souls in the same shoes. "I understand that but that doesn't mean I am going to like it." He said looking at a group of men with tattered armor and rusty looking weapons who blocked the path twenty meters ahead. "By the way, what do they want?" He asked in nonchalant tone, the way the group was eyeing them was anything but good.

"Rob us?" Shisui guessed which was the most likely.

"Maybe they're lost and wanted to ask for directions?" Tokusa tried to stay positive but he knew that was unlikely.

After they got within five feet from the ominous group, the team waited the group to give way to them. As expected the group they presumed to be ronin didn't, Naruto wondered what they could possibly want. "Uhm excuse me, could you please not block the way? We need to walk past." He asked politely.

One of the ronin with a large scar on his left arm grinned at them, "Hello brats, mind giving us some cash for a drink?" He asked cockily, waving his sword threateningly.

Shisui raised an eyebrow, on second thought these guys were probably thugs dressed like ronin. Anyone with a samurai background won't be using such crude words and manners even if they become bandits as far as Shisui knew. "Well... hello to you too, please make way for us before someone gets hurt."

Tokusa had to agree, "You see this?" He tapped his headband protector, "Don't look for trouble with us, and get lost." He waved at them dismissively.

One of the armed men snickered, "Nah... as if we're afraid of a genin team."

"We have beaten a team of _jounin_ from Moyagakure few days ago! The Moya triad!" He boasted proudly.

They gave a collective nod at that accomplishment, "We could take you on! _Genin_." The other added.

They were greeted by blank stares at the statement they made. It seemed these thugs thought they were genin because of their age. since this place was pretty far from any major hidden village the group probably rarely encounter ninjas. Especially if they were so proud about beating a team from Moyagakure (Hidden Village of Haze) of all places.

"Eh... Didn't you know? Moyagakure is like..." Tokusa trailed off with bored tone.

"…The weakest hidden village ever known in history?" Shisui informed them helpfully.

Naruto nodded at that, "They're pretty famous for their stupidity and ridiculous poisons."

Itachi frowned, "I am not sure they're even qualified as a hidden village... "The Uchiha scion added his two cents.

Other hidden villages even pretend they've never exist in the first place, since Moyagakure was such a sorry excuse of a hidden village in their eyes. The only reason Naruto and his team knew of the village was because in their last mission they ran to a team from that village. In which for some unknown reason, the stray team from Moyagakure attempted to shoot Shisui with a dart laced with laughing poison. Naruto was expecting some action but it turned out they were as strong as fourth year Konoha academy students as they possessed virtually no ninja skills. Shisui was sure Itachi's brother who was still in the academy could have beaten them easily. They could hardly feel sorry for the Moyagakure team when the infamous morons_ almost_ accidentally killed themselves with their own poison coated weapons. It was pretty weird to see someone almost die of laughing, hiccuping, crying and other ridiculous causes. They didn't even know you could die from those, but apparently it was possible.

"Eh... so they're weak?" The scarred thug asked.

Shisui sorted, "Calling them weak shinobi would be a compliment, they're not even qualified to call themselves shinobi." What kind of ninja couldn't even manage a henge? Or use chakra at all?

"Oh." The group of armed men looked pretty pale that the Moyagakure ninjas they ganged up on before were just a little more than civilians armed with ninja weapons.

Itachi crossed his arms, "Now, if you please... make way for us. Our patience is thinning." He and Naruto in particular, since Lady Oda was _really_ interested in them. All he and Naruto wanted was to go back to Konoha and flush that memory out with a good sleep.

"Exactly." Naruto piped in.

The scarred man looked hesitant but quickly regained his wits, "You're still kids, there's no way we will back down from snotty brats. Besides... the two pretty boys over there..." He pointed at Naruto and Itachi who raised an eyebrow at him, "…would fetch a pretty good price." He licked his lips greedily.

Silence fell heavily in the air as Itachi and Naruto looked at each other then back to the bandit leader, "Excuse me?" Tokusa squeaked as the two targets gaped at the idea that someone might want to purchase them; he ignored Shisui who was trying really hard to stop himself from laughing.

"You're not... haha... going to rob us, but… hehe... kidnap and then sell them?!" Shisui asked incredulously in between muffled laughs, he knew Itachi and Naruto are pretty but this was the first time a stranger said it out loud and to their faces to boot.

Tokusa on the other hand couldn't comprehend the thought that someone would kidnap his young master and Itachi, not for their status but because they were pretty. "Are you mad?!" This man was going to get killed!

"Do you have any idea how expensive those pervert nobles would pay for them?" The scarred man asked back.

Shisui shook his head in amusement, "No, but I have an idea how you will spend the night today."

"Swimming in cash?" He sneered.

"Nope, in pain~" Shisui sang cheerfully as he cracked his knuckles.

"Lots of pain..." Naruto growled.

Five minutes later the shinobi team left the half dead bandits on the side of the road. Shisui was feeling a bit guilty that the fuming Naruto and Itachi looked ready to kill the next idiot who tried to block their path. They should have just ignored the idiot bandits, but from his experience they're sometimes stupid enough to run after a team of shinobi which ended up in beating them up anyway. But these missions were still a good break for Naruto and Itachi from politics at home, though this one was not so much relaxing as much as it was traumatizing in Shisui's book.

As for Naruto? If he gets another mission like this in less than one week he was going to riot, he almost missed holing up in the tower to craft seals. _Almost_ was the key word, he was still outdoor type of person. As for Itachi? A stop to a nice traditional cafe that served green tea and delicious Monaka was enough to improve his mood. Naruto rolled his eyes at Itachi who took a sip of his green tea with bliss on his face. "Itachi... I am really worried about your blood sugar."

"Hn." Naruto had been in his case since the blond noticed Itachi had been bringing sweets for two months straight to their sparring session for snacks. Everyone needed a hobby, and apparently visiting cafes and eating sweets was his. At the rate Itachi was going though, the first topic Naruto will bring up when the blond met his parents was going to be his sugar level and the risks of diabetes.

"And I am worried that you're worrying about such things like an old man when you're still eight." Shisui quipped from his left then turned to Itachi. "And him, drinking tea and visiting every quaint roadside cafe... a geezer's hobby."

Itachi and Naruto sighed at that, "We're not old men." They chorused.

"No." Shisui agreed, "You only act like one." He said jokingly.

* * *

**This omake suppose to be part of chapter 10, but it's getting too long so I cut it out :) **

**I am planning to get Sasuke in this chapter but it's getting too long and not right timing for him to be in...  
By the way I am sure some of you are disappointed that Danzou didn't get his just desert**, **or not bad enough... When I am all with the idea of kicking Danzou to hell and back simply for his crimes against children... -.-' He in Konoha is not someone you can just kick out because you didn't like him 'at this point'** **as he has too much shit to cover**.

**One of my reviewers suggested I need to bring out Naruto's childish side once in a while so I did! Fangirls! Melt at the picture of Itachi feeding Naruto porridge!**


	13. 13th Legacy

**"Don't even try to swim against a whirlpool's current, you're just going to be pulled in."  
**Hakurei to Sandaime

**13th Legacy: ****Kyougaku** (consternation)

Sarutobi Hiruzen sometimes wished that he could have arrived to the battle between the Yondaime and Kyuubi just an hour, a minute, or even a second earlier… he wished he made it in time and asked Minato to let him seal the Kyuubi in his place. He was old and tired, and frankly he couldn't deal with this political shit anymore. He might be the Hokage, and yet left and right people are plotting and he would have to either follow or crush their schemes for the good of Konoha.

Hakurei once again came bearing another politic issue that gave him headache the size of Hi no Kuni. An issue from seventeen hours ago, when Shibi and Inoichi kicked out of twenty Shinobi in total out of their clan and _officially _released them to Danzou's care.

He was aware that there were a number of Aburame and Yamanaka residing in Danzou's forces, but he did not know that the clan heads were also aware and were itching to kick Danzou's goons out of their clans since they found out about it. Hakurei just gave them exactly what they wanted and Danzou was allowed to keep his soldiers, a win-win situation. The downside was that the Aburame and Yamanaka of Ne were stripped of their family name and heritage, and labeled as disgraces to their clans forever.

The Sandaime had questioned both Shibi and Inoichi about it, both of whom gave him the same answer. Ne might be part of Konoha, but at the same time, they weren't Konoha. It pained them to banish their own clan members but it was a necessity, since there's no telling what would become of their children if they keep Ne's Shinobi in their clan. To them Ne was like a plague, something they had to keep their clan away from.

They didn't say anything, but he knew. Shibi and Inoichi were disappointed that he allowed Ne to flourish in Konoha, gnawing on their clan members. However at the same time, Shibi and Inoichi knew he didn't have what it takes to completely disband Ne and cut off Danzou's limbs. It was not for lack of his capability as a Shinobi no, it was never about that. In a one on one fight he was certain he could beat Danzou even at their sixties. However he needed Danzou to handle Konoha's darkness, to do what he couldn't.

So when Hakurei asked what he would do now that Danzou had dared to order his puppets to attack Naruto, all he could do was reply with a feeble: "What do you think I can do?"

Hakurei snorted, "Let's see… _officially_ disband his Ne _again?_" The old seal master suggested cynically, "A reprimand perhaps?" He added with a raised eyebrow.

Sarutobi snarled, he was not in the mood for Hakurei's sarcasm. "Do you have any idea what will happen if I rat him out?!" He asked in incredulous tone, "Inoichi and Shibi agreed to solve this peacefully, but I would be a fool to think the rest of Konoha would do the same! I admit I am unaware of many things he has done, but I am sure the moment all those crimes he had done_ for_ Konoha surfaces… people from left and right would swear vengeance on Konoha! That's assuming a civil war won't break out first!"

Hakurei's smile turned borderline psychotic at that, "Congrats! Here I thought you have no idea that Danzou has become raving mad with his ideals! Yes! He is a fucking bomb detonator, if not the bomb itself! "Hakurei clapped in mocking fashion." I won't put it past him if to ensure that one day you kicked the bucket first..."

Hiruzen cringed knowing that even Hakurei thought he would die before Danzou did. "He would declare: He is the man who can pull us back from the brink of destruction and bring order and law to Shinobi world to our Daimyou and make him Godaime. Ha ha ha ha ha!" Hakurei laughed out loud, "What order? What law? I'd bet my whole fortune by the first week of his rule as kage someone would try to assassinate him!"

The Sandaime sighed, "You love to slight him a bit too much Hakurei…"

"He makes it easy." Hakurei agreed, "At any rate… you should be thankful that once again I am wiling to let you off scot-free." He said with thinly veiled sarcasm. "No boycott, no demands…" He listed on.

_No, but I will owe you a lot and I will feel guilty for it_. The Sandaime thought with a sigh, rolling his eyes inwardly. "Are you sure you don't want to demand anything?"

Hakurei grinned, "Why… I thought you'd never ask! I am just going to ask a _small_ favor."

With how long the Sandaime had known Hakurei (over four freaking decades!), this would be anything but small "Then what is this _small_ favor?"

Hakurei pulled out two files from his storage scroll and presented it to the old kage. The Sandaime opened both files, frowning at the photo of a pale skinned black haired child and another boy with a darker skin tone and grey hair. "I want you to put Sanseki Sai and Sanseki Shin under my clan's protection." Which automatically makes them also under Uzumaki protection, but Hiruzen didn't need to know or he'd make a fuss about it. "And… then induct them to Konoha's regular forces… a genin rank would be fine!"

His eyes went wide at the name of the long dead clan, "Sanseki? Where did you find them?!"

"You know about kids investing in Konoha's sewers? We got lucky finding them…" Hakurei said vaguely but it was enough for Sandaime to get an idea.

The professor groaned, "Danzou again? How?"

"If I answered that _how _of yours, could you do something about it?" At his silence Hakurei sighed tiredly, "Thought so, being a kage is not so great after all… your hands are tied." He shook his head exasperatedly, "However I sincerely admit you're not to blame… in case of Danzou, at this point I don't have the slightest idea of how to do better than you in your position in handling him."

He nodded in agreement at that, "I don't have the heart to allow a big enough scandal that could legalize eliminating him. Not with Koharu and Homura backing him…" Of course his teammates were loyal to him and Konoha, but sometimes they agreed more with Danzou's methods than his and would no doubt see the war hawk as an indispensable asset for Konoha.

Hakurei narrowed his eyes at the wrinkled face of his old friend, they were relatively of the same age but he could now see how the job made Hiruzen look much older. The man Hakurei saw sitting in front of him was not the Hokage or the professor, but an old and tired Sarutobi Hiruzen. Someone who was perched on top but was helpless in watching his old rival plunge deeper and deeper to darkness for Konoha's sake, his wife was killed at the night of Kyuubi's attack, and his youngest son ran off to serve the daimyou. How Hiruzen was still sane enough to run a village with all that emotional baggage, he didn't know.

After the last document needed was signed, Hiruzen handed the files back to Hakurei. "Here… I just hope we won't regret this."

Hakurei snorted at that, "We won't" He turned to leave but stopped as his hand hovered over the handle of the door, "Oh... and since I gave Danzou a warning, it won't be fair if I don't give you any."

"Hakurei..." The Sandaime warned.

The old seal master quirked his lips, "Don't even try to swim against a whirlpool's current, you're just going to be pulled in."

Since his promotion Hiruzen had done his best to hold his young master back, whether it was due fear for Naruto's safety or his growing power, Hakurei could care less. His young master knew this and he won't stay idle for so long. He was an Uzumaki after all, an Uzumaki would never accept being held back by anyone. This recent move Danzou made would just spur his master more and more.

* * *

_**A few days later in Fuuintou (The Tower of Seals) **_

_"The fire's shadow illuminates the village... this is my nindo as Hokage of Konohagakure" Said the deep voice he had heard many times in his previous dream, the voice of his father. _

_And there's a familiar giggle in response, his mother's that sounds so soothing like wind bells in summer. "Well... considering your bright yellow hair, I think you'll illuminate our village just fine!" _

_He could see his father's reflection in his mother's grey eyes, a slight quirk on his eyes whenever his mother was teasing. "Ha ha ha... I am Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou (Yellow Flash) after all." _

_On the corner of his eyes he saw a much younger Sandaime smiling at his successor, "Whether or not you illuminate us literally, the crowd is bursting with excitement when they found out you're our new Hokage... Minato-kun." _

_He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, eyes closed as he shot the recently former kage a bright smile. "Well... I didn't know I am that popular!" He titled his head to the side, "Then again... my reputation as Konoha no Kiiroi Senkou strikes fear in our enemies, a reputation I built with power and bloodshed in war..." _

_"Minato..." Kushina murmured. _

_"We are Shinobi, so I think it's inevitable..." He admitted sheepishly, "Everyone acknowledges my power as a Shinobi, but I am not sure someone as young as me has the wisdom required to be a good leader our people would acknowledge." _

_His mother narrowed her eyes, "Just because you're young doesn't mean Orochimaru-san is a much better choice because he is old!"_

_Sandaime sweat-dropped at Kushina's statement, "Kushina, while I agree Orochimaru is not a better candidate than Minato because he is older... my student is in his thirties, if he is old, what am I?" _

_Kushina averted her eyes, adorably sticking her tongue out. "Ancient?" _

_Minato face-palmed, "Kushina..." _

_"Te he!" _

_The Sandaime cleared his throat, "At any rate Minato-kun." He began, "I didn't choose you over Orochimaru just because of your reputation, you have something my student doesn't have... strong determination and benevolent heart who believe in our people." The Sandaime looked sad as he spoke. "That's why I trusted you... and passed my hat to you, I am not the only one who has faith in you... everyone in our village acknowledges you as someone who will bring prosperity to Konoha... that's what being a kage means. We are to answer... our people's hopes."_

**"Naruto, wake up!"**

Naruto blinked owlishly, he had fallen asleep after Hakurei went to the Hokage Tower. "What time is it now?" The couch in his living room was a bit uncomfortable but he was simply too tired to drag himself to his bed so he settled for the couch.

Shisui chuckled softly, "It's three in the afternoon... I heard from Tokusa you're still under the weather this morning so you went back to sleep after lunch."

Naruto groaned as he sat up, "I woke up as usual today... but the headache made me sluggish... I shouldn't wake up so early..."He winced, "And a nap is not helping... an afternoon nap lasting more than a few hours makes me feel even more horrible."

"You're always a morning person so it can't be helped if your biological clock woke you up in spite of that..." Itachi added.

He sighed at that, "Never mind..."

"So how is it? Did Hakurei get them good?" Shisui asked curiously.

Naruto nodded, "Aburame and Yamanaka... two of the six major clans of Konoha owe us a favor now, an alliance with them is more or less secured." He narrowed his eyes, "If we got the Yamanaka... then we can pretty much secure the Nara and Akimichi, and since Aburame have good history with Hyuuga and Inuzuka since they often been partnered for tracking teams. We can expect the Inuzuka clan to follow... with their pack mentality it will be easy to form a good relationship with them. They have already contacted us for medical seals... since they wanted us to develop one for their canine companions."

The use of fuuinjutsu in for the medical field was already a standard practice in Konoha, after all one of Konoha's foremost medical pioneers was the granddaughter of Uzumaki Mito. However it seemed that the standard seals used for restoring chakra coils, cell regeneration, and other medical procedures sometimes won't work as well for the Inuzuka's dogs. Naruto had decent knowledge in medic fuuinjutsu and even though he was not an expert, even he could tell that the reason it didn't work as well on dogs was undoubtedly because of the differences in anatomy, though he was uncertain whether it is genetic or something else along that line.

"So the Hyuuga too?" Shisui asked curiously, not that he was fond of clan who was so fond in declaring themselves as the strongest in Konoha.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't expect the Hyuuga would deign to step down from their high throne anytime soon..."

Especially since the white eyed clan had been peeved by their recent alliance with the Uchiha, increasing their rival's reputation in public eyes. So the Hyuuga was pretty much under the impression that their relationship with the tower would be strictly for business. The rivalry between the doujutsu bearer clans was actually non-existent in Uchiha's part since Uchiha hardly acknowledges the Hyuuga's superiority over them in terms of doujutsu. Then again, the Uchiha was more concerned with their political standing now, especially since Itachi and Shisui could wipe the floor with any Hyuuga their age.

The tower pretty much had a nonexistent relationship with the Hyuuga, and the clan had forbidden their branch members from enrolling in the Tower's fuuinjutsu course in fear that they will somehow figure out a way to get rid of the **Kagonotori no Fuuin**-Caged Bird Seal. A concept which was pretty ridiculous, since while the Tower had never bothered to study the Hyuuga's seal, they had a pretty good idea of the seal's construction. It was in the same category with the Iwazaru no Fuuin, a branch of seal studies called 'Juuinjutsu. It was also Aizen's clan's specialty. Removing this kind of seal was a pain in the ass and some, and while newly applied seals could be broken easily with the right chakra burst, one that is years old could kill the victim if removed recklessly. Unlike Danzou, the Hyuuga know their seals well, so the chance of the failure removal is much higher. Even if a 9th Dan seal master like Hakurei attempted it, they were still looking at a good 50%-60% chance of failing.

"It's not like I have anything against the Hyuuga, even though I don't like the way they treat their own family..." Naruto murmured with a sigh, "I just can't see it being easy to extend a hand no matter what... they're a very proud clan and competitive to boot." He sighed again, "Tradition and history wise... our clans have a higher standing, being descendants of Rikudo Sennin as well as being founding clans..."

Shisui titled his head to the side, "They never struck me to be the jealous type... that seems to be more of an Uchiha thing!"

Itachi and Naruto stared at Shisui incredulously, "Sometimes... I wonder if you ever forget that your surname is Uchiha." Itachi said in amused tone.

The younger Shinobi shrugged, "I started to think that having a Doujutsu makes arrogance genetic, but well... if they're comfortable in their high place and have no intention to join us, let them be... as long as we leave each other alone."

"I see..." Itachi murmured, "How about Danzou?"

Shisui nodded at that, "Hakurei sent him a message from you, but do you think he gets it at all?" Shisui asked curiously.

"You mean if Danzou would ever understand what I tried to convey in my message?" Naruto echoed Shisui's question, he looked thoughtful for a while then gave the shunshin expert a nonchalant shrug.

Shisu's left eyebrow twitched at the response, when it comes to Naruto that was an equivalent of _'Fuck if I know'_ reply. "Then why bother to get Hakurei-dono to forward it?"

Itachi titled his head to the side, glancing at his blond friend. "We agreed that Danzou is a man so devoted to his own ideals, he lost sight of everything else…"

"Probably because I just want him to hear it…" The blond confessed, "He thinks that the Sandaime's teachings are weakening our village… "Shisui frowned, "Even I can see that it's not entirely baseless, since after Kumo's blatant assault on the Hyuuga, they got scot-free. I can understand that… we just recovered from third war and… that traitor's attack. We can't afford a war, it's a suicide." They agreed to not call the event as the Kyuubi's attack, because in a sense Kurama didn't even give a flying fuck about attacking Konoha as long as he could be free. "But there's Orochimaru's defection. Hakurei said the Sandaime barely lifted a hand about Orochimaru… no matter how low Orochimaru has fallen, the Sandaime is still…"

Shisui narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "I hope you're not implying Sandaime is weak or anything along that line…"

Naruto sighed, Shisui was fond of Sandaime since his father was a good friend with the Hokage. He couldn't blame Shisui for defending Sandaime though; he was pretty blunt about Sandaime's failures. "Shisui… all leaders in history have their shortcomings, I acknowledge him as a good leader who believe in his shinobi and strives for Konoha's sake. Regardless of everything I still see the Sandaime as my grandfather figure, for so long he had been someone who treated me as a human being first before I noticed anyone else." He sighed wearily, "I can say I didn't lost hope in humanity because of him."

"Naruto…"Shisui couldn't help but touched.

"He is also the first person I lost trust in though." Naruto added impassively, rolling his eyes.

Shisui fell from his chair out of shock, glaring at Naruto who returned it with dispassionate stare. "Seriously! Naruto… only you could say you trust someone and distrust him in one breath."

"Two breaths to be exact." Itachi corrected.

Shisui groaned, these two! "No one likes a nitpicker! Itachi! Naruto!"

Naruto sighed again, hugging his knees and propping his chin on top of it. "It's not like I blame him for my pariah status as a jinchuuriki, there's five kages in the continent but I have not heard any of them helping their jinchuuriki from their pariah status..." He heard that some had decent lives but people were still afraid of them. Yagura was not helping their reputation, though going mad was not that uncommon for jinchuuriki.

Itachi and Shisui flinched at that, "Naruto…"

Even for those who managed to pull through and be acknowledged, they still had to earn it on their own like the Kumo jinchuuriki. Naruto didn't mind that, he didn't even think to demand that much from the Sandaime. "However… what pains me the most is… my trust is not returned at all." He clenched his fist, "Everything I gained until today is because he had no choice but allow it… I graduated early because Tori brought up that being in the academy just stunted my growth, my promotion to genin is because of Aizen's recommendation… and I heard from Hakurei that even then he put up an argument over it, and that any chance of promotion to chuunin is the same… it took me going through Hakurei and his teammates, that I cornered him to agree or else…"

Shisui sighed at that, he couldn't blame Naruto for being distrustful of the Sandaime then. He had seen it too, no matter how much Naruto showed the Sandaime of his growth, the kage still sees Naruto as a child he has to shelter from the cruel world of Shinobi. The irony was… the moment his status as a jinchuuriki was leaked to public and he became Konoha's pariah, the Sandaime and Konoha had already failed to give Naruto a childhood.

"I still love him as a family but to trust him…" He trailed off, recalling the distant memory of dismissal he was given whenever he asked of his parents. "I don't think… I can trust him ever again." He confessed sadly.

Itachi sighed at that, "I guess I can relate to that… " A long ago he trusted his clan to stay loyal to Konoha no matter what, but now he could see them wrapped in their own arrogance and have lost sight of what is most important.

Naruto glanced at Itachi and Shisui; all of them had seen their world at its darkest. Shisui and Itachi saw it through war, while Naruto saw it through the eyes of a jinchuuriki. "Danzou has started to move... both sides have managed to get out of this conflict with Konoha intact, but from this event we can see..."

"How frail Konoha's political balance is..." Itachi finished grimly, "We have to eliminate Danzou sooner or later, he is too dangerous." He said as he skimmed through the document Shisui forced one of Ne's operative to write.

Apparently Danzou put a number of his operatives to be record keepers, and would periodically rotate his subordinates for this duty. Which was why even if someone managed to get a hand on one of them and get around the Iwazaru no Fuuin, they won't be able to get complete information of Danzou's operation. However Danzou had too much shit to hide that his method was not that effective. There was a reason why Danzou periodically replaced his spies and killed those who worked too long for him to prevent his spies from knowing too much. What Shisui managed to discover while not much, was enough to send shivers to their spines, Swamp Country's invasion, the tragedy in Land of Wood, connections with Orochimaru's experiments, and so on. If this was just the tip of the iceberg, they couldn't imagine the rest.

"I don't want to know." Naruto confessed in regard to Danzou's horrible deeds. "But we need to know."

Shisui nodded at that, "No wonder Sandaime-sama protects and keep an eye on him in the same time, his downfall is going to open a can of worms and his grubby hands are everywhere..."

Itachi cringed at that, "Which means we have to make sure he is dead while bringing his secrets to the grave with him." He concluded.

"How? People who would swear vengeance on him are everywhere!" Shisui asked incredulously. "Oh I know... we make a shrine on his grave and tell the people to curse it forever or something? Or sell his clones as punching bag?"

Naruto face-palmed, "I can't believe I am actually considering that... at any rate how long do you think we will fare in this stalemate."

"No idea." Shisui shrugged.

Itachi sighed, "We're lucky if by the end of this year the suggestion of a coup isn't going to resurface."

Naruto scowled at that, "Your father must be pretty tired trying to fend off angry members of his clan..."

Shisui nodded, "Fugaku-jiisan is trying his best to assure the clan that we're heading to a better future now, or something along that line..." To be fair he, Itachi and the clan head themselves were not sure of that, so it was hard to make their clansmen believe it. "The elders are still skeptical though." Sometimes Shisui wondered why they needed advice from old coots like their elders, but of course, wisdom and experience came with age and whatnot.

"We are backing my father's claim to the best of our ability but we can't tell how long it will last..." He murmured wearily, "Not to mention they started breathing down our necks again lately."

The older Uchiha nodded, "It's mostly the elders... the older generation in general, and most Uchihas our age who remembered the end of third war when they're young."

Naruto face-palmed, it seemed that a majority of the Uchiha was still unsatisfied with their current status. He couldn't blame them, for a proud clan like the Uchiha to accept disrespect from Konoha is unfathomable. They were one of the founding clans, and yet they were monitored like prisoners. Itachi might be their heir and pride, a prodigy of the highest caliber who cemented their reputation as the strongest, on the other hand however, Itachi was not that well liked among his clansmen, because he turned his back on a lot of traditional Uchiha beliefs. While Shisui was in the same page as Itachi, he was not the heir and was not watched as closely. However at this rate even Shisui would be put on the spot.

They also couldn't forget the rogue Uchiha they had to hunt, the man who tore their families apart. Konoha is at risk of falling to civil war, while that traitor didn't even need to lift a finger as Konoha annihilated itself. Naruto was not thirsting for revenge, but he would be damned if that traitor gets what he wants! No!

"So... we can't progress in our own leisure, because the rest of the world is not going to wait..." He murmured. "There's nothing you can do to change your political standing now... both of you have done well to reach ANBU rank, but in the end you're still part of a clan that Konoha's government is suspicious of... even if eventually, either you or Itachi reach the rank of ANBU captain, it will hardly change the situation... if anything..."

"Our clan would be upset that in spite of my rank their standing is not getting better..." Itachi continued gravely, "I know as much but I still wish my part in this won't hit a dead end yet..."

Shisui groaned, "It sucks... but any shinobi rank below a kage, a division leader, or the head jounin could only get you that far in politics..."

Naruto nodded at that, "In my case however..."

"You're untouchable by anyone but the Hokage..." Itachi murmured, "However..."

"My status as jinchuuriki makes me important to Konoha as a weapon, well... hardly any difference compared to the forbidden scroll Hokage-sama keeps in the Hokage Tower's archives..." Naruto rolled his eyes when he saw Shisui flinch. "of those who care of my political standing... Hokage-sama, Hakurei and The Tower..."

"You have my father's support." Itachi added without hesitation. "Well... not openly, unfortunately..."

Naruto smiled at that, "I would be worried if he'd give it openly." Naruto assured the younger Uchiha, "It's going to cause unrest... but still... at this rate... Hokage-sama is in our way."

The Uchiha cousins froze, "What did you say?!" Shisui asked in disbelief.

"He is in our way." Naruto repeated without remorse, "I have no intention of being indulged in the bliss of ignorance... it's not helping me or anyone as far as I'm concerned."

Itachi swallowed, "You're talking about your heritage?"

Naruto sighed, "No, I will let the status of my heritage be as it is for now... "

The Uchiha's scion frowned, it seemed even Naruto was reaching his line of patience. Naruto was very possessive of his legacy, which was no wonder as he spent most of his life thinking he was unwanted and had nothing of his root to hold onto. Naruto loathed to be kept away from his legacy more than anything, and he had no intention to let those legacies left by his parents out of his reach forever.

"Then what do you want? In spite of everything he cares about you..." Shisui murmured.

"Unfortunately what I want and what he thought is the best for me is not the same..." Naruto answered coolly, "It does not matter what I feel for him, but I won't get anywhere with being safe! Like it or not... sooner or later I will make a decision that will greatly disappoint him... I am not a little boy he could keep ignorant of the world!"

"Naruto..."

Naruto sighed wearily, "Does that count as insubordination? Ha ha ha... am I disappointing you now?"

Itachi shook his head. "Naruto... you know we promised you that no matter what we will always be your ally, your friends... and one day if I have to choose between being loyal to you or Hokage-sama, I will choose you."

The younger boy tensed, "That's... a rather big promise, even for you Itachi... "

"I am serious." Itachi stated.

Shisui nodded eagerly, "What Itachi said..."

Naruto laughed softly at that, they're really serious for choosing him over their lord and in extension Konoha itself. What he had done to deserve them? He was a jinchuuriki and the heir of the Uzumaki clan, but Itachi and Shisui were here by his side for him alone. It won't be fair if he didn't promise the same right?

"Then I will promise you the same... even if your family, clan, this village... and the world itself betrays you, I will be always be on your side no matter what."

* * *

**Two weeks later**

Shisui and Itachi were both sent to a long term ANBU mission that would take at least a few weeks to complete, and by the Sandaime's estimation they would be back in two weeks. So it was left to Naruto to form a team with either the Shiomitsu siblings or the Sanseki siblings, though Hakurei requested the Sanseki siblings to stay in the tower until they were used living their new life, free of Danzou's influence. Apparently like any other children of Ne, both brothers were socially crippled. Hiruzen had asked for a more thorough explanation about the children's mental state, and even offered to assign a Yamanaka for help. Hakurei, however refused and reasoned that both Sai and Shin by Shinobi standards were not really mentally ill, all they needed was time to adjust with their life. The Sandaime could do nothing but give in, and let Hakurei handle his boys.

However it was not the newly introduced Sanseki siblings that concerned him, not as much as the solemn child before him.

"C rank... "Naruto murmured, "A small village in Na no Kuni is in need us to protect their greenhouse for the incoming storms?"

Sarutobi nodded, he didn't know if it was just him or if there was really a tint of disappointment in Naruto's voice lately whenever he requested a mission. "By right it's a D rank, but the sheer workload makes it a C rank." He explained loftily. Of course he didn't miss the clenched fist or a brief spark of chakra Tokusa and Yuzuriha made. The Shiomitsu siblings were displeased he made their young master to do such mundane job.

Naruto nodded, "Well... considering I have kage-bunshin in my repertoire, it's an efficient choice... Hokage-sama."He said, beaming at the old kage.

He had spent too much time around Hakurei lately that even Naruto's statement sounded like there's a tint of sarcasm on it. Or maybe Naruto was indeed subtly being sarcastic with him. Naruto had been a chuunin for almost half a year, and yet his missions were mostly C and D ranks with the exception of one B rank mission. That B rank itself was an escort mission that ranked that high because the client was an important diplomat for Hi no Kuni and was very anal about proper conducts of nobility, and so was prone to be displeased by a Shinobi's crude manners. Naruto was chosen because he was one of few shinobi in his village who knows how to deal with pompous nobles, and what a right choice that was since the diplomat was very pleased by the 'nice shinobi boy' and specifically requested Naruto to be the only shinobi assigned for his escort in the future. While it pleased the Sandaime, he couldn't help but think Naruto was also suited to be one of the Daimyou's guards like his son.

Asuma from what he heard was having a hard time with politics in the capital, and sooner or later Asuma would come back to Konoha, after all he already has a nice bounty on his head as proof that he is not just a kage's son. Anyone wanted acknowledgement, both his son and Naruto. However he couldn't push Naruto more than they already had with promoting him to Chuunin at eight, and the least he could do was to not send him to dangerous battlefields like he did with Kakashi. There already have been too many prodigies this village broke, starting from his own broken team, Hatake Kakashi, and at this rate if he was not careful Naruto, Itachi and Shisui would join the list. He couldn't do much for Itachi and Shisui who were under the Uchiha clan, but he could still do something for Naruto. He would hold Naruto back, he won't let Minato's son be broken like the other prodigies before him.

_'Don't even try to swim against a whirlpool's current, you're just going to be pulled in.'_

"Naruto-kun." Sarutobi called the boy out when he was about to leave mission office.

Naruto turned to face the old kage, a puzzled expression on his face. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

_I just want you to be safe and happy, _that's what he wanted to say but he couldn't. "Have a safe journey... Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled softly at that, "Yes of course... Hokage-sa..." He shook his head, "Jii-chan."

The old kage smiled at that, how long it has been since the last time Naruto called him like that? Too long... As the door closed the old kage was in a much better mood than he had for the last few months.

On the the other side of the door Naruto sighed, now he _really_ felt guilty deceiving his surrogate grandfather. Then again he had been lied to for most of his short life, and people said ignorance is bliss, to Naruto it was anything but bliss, it was hell. He learned that he was _much_ happier to know he was almost universally hated in Konoha for his jinchuuriki status rather than being clueless and wandering helplessly in that hellhole of solitude. He had friends, family, people who cared of him now, and if what it takes to protect them was lying to the whole world, then so be it!

"Naruto-sama?" Yuzuriha's voice snapped him out of his thought. "Are you alright?"

Naruto blinked owlishly, they had been out of Hokage's tower and his subordinates were worried that he hadn't said a thing since they left the mission room. "Ah yes, I am fine Yuzuriha." He narrowed his eyes as they walked to direction of Konoha's gate. "Don't let your guard down, failure is not an option for this mission." Of course he was not talking about the mission of helping farmers in Komugi no Kuni. But the one Itachi wanted to strangle him for, seriously, they had agreed in the end though.

**Hi no Kuni's border**

They had set a camp for today, a base of operations as they swept through Hi no Kuni's borders. Takigakure was having one of their annual mass training routines, which focused really close to their border. Actually the Hokage himself believed the chance of Taki plotting against Konoha was non-existent. While the alliance between Konoha and Taki was pretty loose, Takigakure had no reason to attack Konoha. There's too large a gap in military power between Konoha and Taki, and the minor village owed Konoha a lot of debt. The ANBU presence here was just a warning for Taki to not get any ideas, but mostly to get Danzou off the Sandaime's back for letting another hidden village have an annual training very close to their border.

Uchiha Shisui sighed as he looked at his cousin. Said cousin was still as expressionless as ever, if there was one Uchiha's traditional code that Itachi honored, it was keeping one's emotion in control during a mission. They were not in hostile territory, but a shinobi could never let their guard down in a mission. Shisui could tell that Itachi was restless, and he had not stopped poking the campfire with his stick.

"Itachi... you're still worried about him?" The other was out hunting for food so they had the camp all for themselves.

The younger Uchiha sighed, "I am..." After a long while of silence Itachi spoke again. "He shouldn't go ahead with that plan."

"Unfortunately..." Shisui trailed off, "He has to do something, sooner or later, you're not expecting him to stay idle and let Hokage-sama hold him back forever, are you?"

"No." Itachi agreed, "But I still don't like it..."

"Neither I do." Shisui shrugged, "We must trust Naruto though... no matter what."

"Of course..." Itachi murmured, "We promised each other... he promised..."

Shisui laughed softly, "But since when did the world care? Our clan, especially our elders never cared... I wish there are more people like cousin Obito around, maybe our clan could be considered decent sociable individuals then. If not for Uchiha like us and him, I would have thought the Uchiha are born intrinsically with sticks up our asses."

Somewhere in Kirigakure, certain orange masked Uchiha sneezed.

* * *

I** stop reading Naruto after everyone declare I will be the Hokage... the stupidity... so I care not of canon anymore fuck it! **


End file.
